


How Did This Happen?

by MapsioMorrigan



Category: Fairy Tail
Genre: Cute, F/M, Implied Sexual Content, Secret Relationship, a little steamy, fairy tail - Freeform, just a bit
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2018-07-30
Updated: 2018-07-30
Packaged: 2019-06-18 15:23:45
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 11
Words: 26,627
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/15488871
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/MapsioMorrigan/pseuds/MapsioMorrigan
Summary: What will happen to Natsu and Lucy's relationship after a serious night of passion? Read and find out! Rated: T since nothing TOO saucy happens, oh my.





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> I will be honest, I am just moving this over to my AO3 since I have one now, but this work is not finished. I promise I will finish this story off someday, I just need a little more motivation from my Fairy Tail side first. Nonetheless, I really hope you all enjoy this again!

He kicked the door shut as he slammed her against the wall of her apartment. Hands stayed glued to her hips as his lips firmly moved against her own. Lucy's hands tangled in his pink locks, her face flushing from embarrassment and lack of oxygen. She broke apart from him, sucking in air before he crushed his mouth to hers a split second later. His arm snaked around her waist as the other hand cupped the back of her neck, pressing her further into him.

His lips parted, tongue swiping her bottom lip and making her gasp. He quickly seized the opportunity, pushing his tongue beyond her lips, deepening the kiss further. Finally pushing away for much needed air, Natsu peppered kisses from her jawline, going up to her ear before locking his mouth onto her earlobe.

Lucy bit her lip to stifle the moan crawling up her throat. His hand swiftly rubbed up and down her back and stopped on her behind, gently squeezing the flesh and causing her moan to slip from between her lips.

_Wha… what is happening here?_ she thought to herself. How did we get into this situation?

She couldn't recall the details, all she knew was that she never thought she'd be pinned up against the wall with her best friend sucking on her earlobe. Without realizing what she was doing, she began rubbing tiny circles on the back of his neck and feeling his hair suddenly stand on end.

With a low growl, he choked out, "Lucy…!" The growl and moan of her name from his lips made her stomach flip over. Natsu's lips crashed to Lucy's once again, his tongue exploring her mouth. The action suddenly caused Lucy's hips to involuntarily buck. Her eyes grew wide as he pulled apart from her and stared into her eyes.

_Why the hell did I do that?_ Within the next moment, Natsu pulled away from Lucy and hooked his arm under her legs, lifting her into a hold. Her heart hammered in her throat as she realized where Natsu was taking her. He laid her on the soft bed and quickly climbed over her. Lucy's eyes squeezed shut as his lips sucked a sensitive part of her neck. She had a hard time trying to put a spin on what was happening. What made him suddenly want to- what, what had them both get innn- ohhh.

Lucy couldn't think with him making her feel so warm. He was intoxicating, his musky, outdoorsy scent flooding her nostrils and making her head spin. But why was his smell dizzying her so? Why did his touch suddenly burn to her core? They shouldn't be doing this, she knew that. She and her best friend in the world shouldn't be tangled in each other's arms, sharing hot kisses in her bed. That wasn't what best friends did with each other. Her mind then vehemently started screaming to friggin' stop when she felt his fingers unbuttoning her blouse.

Yet she couldn't bring herself to push him away, to tell him to stop. Instead she slowly raised her hands and shakily began to unwrap his scarf from around his neck.

* * *

 

The sun streamed though Lucy's apartment as morning broke. Lucy's head pounded as she opened one eye to get used to the light shining into her bedroom.

_Ow… my head is killing me_ … she thought to herself. What the hell happened last night?

She rubbed her eyes and lazily opened them, yawning as she did so. This morning Lucy felt warm. Unusually warm. Very unusually warm. Suddenly she registered that the heat was pressed up against her back. And that she was feeling a puff of warm air every few seconds on the back of her neck. And that a strong arm was wrapped firmly around her waist. As her heart beat loud in her chest, Lucy slowly turned her head to see a pink haired dragon slayer in her bed. Normally, that wouldn't be that unusual since Natsu was always falling asleep in her bed. What was unusual was that it was a naked pink haired dragon slayer sleeping in her bed.

_OH. MY. GOD_. Lucy screamed in her head. Images of her and Natsu, stripping each other's clothes off, writhing in each other's arms, moaning each other's names, suddenly came rushing back into her head. She desperately tried to rid herself of those thoughts when she felt the man next to her release her from his grip and shift onto his back, still sound asleep.

Lucy sat up and peered down at the sleeping man. He looked peaceful and sweet, and Lucy couldn't help but smile. His sleeping face was like a child's. But Lucy's smile quickly disappeared as she recalled what she and he had done the previous night. She buried her face in her hands and tried to get a grip on things.

_What have we done?_ Lucy thought sadly. _There's no going back after this!_

Finally Lucy sighed and decided that the first thing she should do is get up and take some medicine to get rid of the pounding in her head. She was careful not to wake Natsu as she quietly climbed out of her bed and headed toward her bathroom. She filled up the bathtub with warm water and climbed in after she took some headache medicine. She dipped her chin in the water and sighed again. She didn't know what to think, she couldn't even remember how it happened. All she could remember was that they did… well, that. Recalling the event caused Lucy to blush.

Last night had been her first time. And she couldn't even remember what spurred it to happen in the first place. She pulled her knees into her chest and wrapped her arms around her shins. Lucy had always had plans for her first time. The first condition was that she had to have been dating the guy for a while before the thought would even cross her mind, but now that was chucked right out the window. But... it wasn't as if she really regretted it. At least it was with someone who she knew and trusted instead of a guy she barely knew.

If she really had to describe anything about the night, it would be... nice. But that was a gross understatement, as much as she didn't want to admit it. His hands, though calloused through years of rough and tough work, were gentle yet firm, holding her tight against him. The way he touched her and kissed her made her wonder if he was more experienced than she was. But then she remembered that this was Natsu, not a suave Casanova like Loke or The Trimens. Minus Ichiya, of course. And he spent most of his time with Lucy anyways, she would know if he had a girl or whatever.

After a short while she finally climbed out of the bath and wrapped a towel around herself and toweled dry her blonde hair. She quietly walked back into her bedroom expecting to see the sleeping dragon slayer still sprawled on her bed. But it was the exact opposite. She walked in to find her bed empty and Natsu's clothes gone.

Her heart fell into her stomach and tears formed in Lucy's eyes as she realized just what that meant.

Lucy slowly trudged her way to the guild feeling dejected. Natsu slipped out without even telling her. That in itself meant that he regretted what went on between them the night before. Natsu could barely do anything without first telling Lucy. The fact that he just left, especially after a night like that... Lucy could barely put it into words let alone feelings. She sighed as she finally came upon the guild and headed through the big doors.

The guild was loud, as always. Macao and Wakaba were busy arguing about something, like they always did, and poor Juvia was trying her very best to get Gray's attention. Wendy was playing around with Happy and Romeo, but nothing could make her feel better. Even seeing Erza's content expression as she scooped a forkful of her favorite strawberry shortcake into her mouth wasn't enough to lift Lucy's spirits. Lucy plopped down on the bar stool next to Levy and put her chin in her hand.

"Lu-chan?" Levy inquired, putting down her book, as she peered at her crestfallen friend. "Are you okay? You look kind of tired."

"Oh, it's, uh... I'm fine, Levy-chan," Lucy lied with a forced smile. She couldn't possibly tell anyone what happened, even if it wasn't with Natsu. She would be too embarrassed.

"Lu-chan, are you sure? You're acting funny, you're usually so chipper in the morning," the bluenette said, a concerned look forming on her face. Levy was a good friend, she could always tell when Lucy was feeling bad.

"Really, really, I'm okay! Honest!" Lucy said, smiling and holding her hand up in a promise.

"'Sup, bitches," Lucy heard a familiar voice behind her say. Cana sat down in the bar stool next to Lucy with a yawn and pushed her brown hair from her face. "What're you guys talking about?"

"Cana, you're good at these things, is Lucy acting funny to you?" Levy asked her. Although Lucy kept smiling, she was sweating profusely on the inside. Shit, Cana is good at these things!

"Well, let's see," Cana peered over at her friend as she waited for Mirajane to set her usual barrel of booze in front of her. Her eyes squinted the longer she looked at Lucy, and all of a sudden Cana's eye opened wide and she screamed, "YOU HAD SE-"

Lucy quickly clamped her hand over her friend's mouth before Cana could scream the last word out. But she slowly turned her head to see Levy's mouth gaping wide and that Mirajane, Erza, and Juvia were now crowded around her, and all of their eyes were wide as dinner plates. Too late.

"Lu... Lu-chan, y-you r-r-really-" Levy stuttered. Lucy refused to answer, but unfortunately the blush quickly creeping up her neck said everything for her. And the girls blew up.

"NO FUCKING WAY, LUCY!"

"Lucy, i-is this true?"

"It wasn't with Gray-sama, right? RIGHT?!"

"Oh, Lucy, you naughty, naughty girl, you."

Lucy's face burned even hotter. "N-n-n-no no no, you've got the wrong idea!"

All of the girls looked at each other, and then they all said together as they snapped their necks back at her, "WHO WAS IT WITH?" with a strangled "not with Gray-sama, right?" from Juvia after.

"AH HA HA," Lucy choked out, feeling like she was the crowned queen of embarrassment, "I totally forgot about, uh, forgot about –flamrugabu- yeah, that! I better get going!" Before anyone could say anything else, Lucy quickly scrambled out of the guild with all of the girls, especially poor Juvia who was screaming "NOT GRAY-SAMA?!" looking thoroughly interested. _Damn it, Cana, I'm gonna kill you!_

Lucy walked as fast as she could away from the guild, her head dizzy from what just transpired with the girls. And damn Cana! Lucy knew that she was good at figuring out how people were feeling, but she didn't expect her to outright scream HOLY SHIT, LUCY HEARTFILIA HAD SEX, EVERYONE! Ugh, she was so jittery, she thought maybe it would be best for her to just go home and take a nap. She hopped up on the ledge next to the river going through Magnolia and crossed her arms behind her back, gazing up at the blue sky.

"I wish I didn't feel this way.." she said to herself with a sigh. Just as Lucy was walking along, her foot slipped on the side of the ledge and she was all of a sudden tumbling into the river. But she never hit the water. Instead she felt someone grab her wrist and pull her back. Now she was being held up against her savior.

"Jeez, Luce," a familiar voice said, shaking with mirth. "Those boatmen are right, someday you're gonna fall in!"

Lucy looked up at the familiar face of the man who's been in her mind all morning.

"N-N-Natsu!" her voice shook as a lump began to form in her throat. It was Natsu. Natsu of all people in Fiore was the one who caught her. But she thought for sure after he slipped out this morning, he would be avoiding her as much as possible.

"I've been looking all over for you!" he said with his trademark toothy grin. Lucy's stomach did a flip. So he definitely isn't avoiding me, then, she thought, relief flooding her system. He held up a flyer for a job in front of her. "I went to the guild this morning to pick out a job for us since your rent's coming up. I thought you'd still be at home when I got back, but it seemed like you were already gone. Glad I came around here when I did or you'd be swimming in the water!"

Lucy's eyebrows knitted together. She was feeling so conflicted now. On one hand, Natsu was being incredibly considerate and sweet for remembering that her rent was due. But on the other hand, he was acting almost as if last night had ever happened. Had it just been a joke to him? A funny, Natsu doesn't get it/care about it joke?

Natsu's eyebrow arched at her silence. "Luce, are you okay? Are you sick?" he asked, putting his forehead to her's to check for a fever. The gesture caused her to blush a little. "If you can't go, I can go alone. I know you need the money to keep your apartment."

Lucy felt stupid. She couldn't feel irritated at Natsu, particularly when he was being so considerate towards her. Maybe he truly doesn't remember? she thought to herself. Maybe he just thinks that he fell asleep in my bed, like usual. For now, however, she just sighed and smiled. She didn't want to ruin what she had with Natsu, especially if he didn't remember it. Of course, she was still going to talk to him about it. Just not today.

"Okay, I just need to go get a bag and we can go."


	2. Chapter 2

“Happy isn’t coming with us?” Lucy asked as she and Natsu walked down a dirt path toward their destination. The two could have easily taken the train and gotten there quicker, but Lucy knew all too well how motion sickness affected Natsu. So she decided she could put up with a couple of hours of walking.

“Yeah, he was having all sorts of fun with Romeo and Wendy today,” Natsu spoke with a smile. “I asked if he wanted to come along, and he actually said he would, but he just looked like he was having such a good time, I told him to stay behind.”

“Charle was there, wasn’t she?”

“Oh yeah, definitely,” he laughed, crossing his arms behind his head as he walked. “Impressin’ his kitty gal. But he has been hanging out with Romeo and Wendy a lot more. I think it’s nice for him. Wendy especially.”

“Of course it is!” Lucy exclaimed. “There aren’t many kids in the guild around Wendy’s age. And Cana can only visit the orphanage with Wendy only a number of times a month. The kids there sure do enjoy Wendy’s company, though!”

“They think she’s cool!” Natsu said as he kicked a rock down the path. “Not that she isn’t. She’s a good kid. It was a good idea taking her to Fairy Tail.”

“I don’t know what it would be like without her,” Lucy smiled. “She and Gajeel seem to get along alright.”

“Gajeel can be a real prick sometimes,” Natsu grumbled. “But he _is_ a good guy. I’ve maybe even started forgiving him for attacking Shadow Gear and Fairy Tail.”

“Hey, Levy’s forgiven him, which means you should, too, Natsu!” Lucy said, her cheeks puffing out. Natsu waved his hand lazily.

“Oh, Levy’s done more than forgiven him, she’s completely smitten with the creepy metal eater.”

“Says the weirdo fire eater,” Lucy mumbled, lightly punching him on the arm.

“You’re weirder than I am, weirdo,” Natsu spoke, laying his hand on the side of her head and pushing her away with a laugh.

“At least I don’t destroy towns!”

“Hey, you help with it!”

“Like hell, I do! I don’t shoot fire from my mouth right at a building!”

“Well, uh…” he paused, trying to think of a comeback, “Well, at least my fire isn’t a perverted cow!”

“Hmm… Okay, you’re right on that,” Lucy concluded with a giggle.  After that Natsu and Lucy walked in content silence down the warm dirt road. That’s when it hit her. She was content. It was her first feeling of real happiness all morning. Just being there, walking alongside Natsu had always been enough to make her feel happy. She knew of course that she would have to talk to him about that night sometime soon, but for now it was just… okay. And she was fine with that.

“So Elfman and Evergreen,” Natsu exclaimed. “When the _hell_ did that happen?!”

Lucy laughed, “Oh my god, I have no idea! Not that I’m not happy for them, but I never saw that coming!”

“I know! I mean was it on Tenrou…” their silly conversations trailed on for the rest of the trip, running off into different topics every now and again, almost making the trip seem like it didn’t take long at all.

* * *

 

The job was easy, simply taking care of a gang of bandits hopping around a town called Tinter that was no bigger than Magnolia. The mayor of Tinter even offered them a larger reward if they would help with the community center dinner since one of the chefs and some servers were injured by the bandits. It was an annual banquet for the town and was a big part of their year, so they desperately needed assistance. Naturally, Natsu and Lucy agreed to help.

Lucy didn’t even have to dress up in a waitress outfit since the head of the community center asked her if she was okay at cooking. Natsu insisted that she take the chef’s job and that he’d help serve the tables, saying that Lucy’s dinners at home always make him and Happy drool with anticipation. And it was fun. Lucy even got to take home some of the food she made to share with her friends.

After the townspeople thanked them ten times and a half for their wonderful help, Natsu and Lucy began the trip home.

Again, the two were incased in a happy silence as they walked down the path home.

“We took a little longer than I thought we would,” mumbled Natsu. “I’m not complaining because it’s nice that we helped them out, but are we gonna make it home before nighttime?”

“I think we’ll be fine,” Lucy said, looking up at the sky. The sun wasn’t even below the hills yet, they were going to make it home before nighttime easy.

But unfortunately, fate just loves to mess around with Lucy Heartfilia.

Clear, blue-orange skies soon turned into a raging downpour of rain. Natsu and Lucy sped up their pace tenfold, but there was no way they were going to get home safely in this rainstorm.

As they walked along the now muddy path trying to look for shelter, Lucy slipped and fell back right into the wet mud. Natsu’s face puffed up trying not to laugh as he helped pick her up. Lucy held her arms out from her sides as a shiver ran up her spine. The shiver of disgust sent Natsu over the edge, holding his sides and slapping his knee as he laughed.

“Shut up, Natsu, it isn’t f-funny!” Lucy stuttered. She rubbed her hands up and down her arms in an attempt to get warm. Natsu chuckled watching her shiver and her teeth chattering. He quickly peeled off his jacket and dropped it over her head, leaving his chest bare.

“No, Natsu, you’ll catch a col-,” Lucy began to say as she shrugged it off of her, but Natsu simply pulled it over her head again, and merely responded to her with his toothy grin of his.

Finally after ten more minutes in the pouring rain, they found an inn. It was kind of small, but anything that wasn’t a dark guild’s hideout that could keep them out of the rain for the night would work.

It was relatively cheap, which was nice in that it didn’t take too much of what they earned on their long job. The concierge smiled at the two as they wrote their names on the roster. “Good thing you got here when you did,” she said sweetly as she played with her pigtail. “The storm is supposed to get even worse and you just took the last room!”

“Aw, man, that’s lucky!” Natsu exclaimed with a grin. Setting his hand on his companion’s shoulder, he added, “Lucky Lucy.”

Lucy chuckled at the name. “Very funny, Natsu,” she said as the concierge dropped the key into her hand.

“Have a wonderful night, please call if there’s anything you need!” she said happily.

Natsu followed Lucy up the stairs to the last room on the third floor and walked inside after her. It was a nice little room. A bed, a couch, a small table, and a bathroom. Lucy quickly stepped into the bathroom to at least clean the mud out of her hair. After a couple of minutes she walked out with fresh fluffy towels in hand.

“Catch,” she said as she tossed a towel to him. Natsu shook his head, spraying water all over Lucy before rubbing the towel over his head.

“Ugh, what are you, a dog, Natsu?” she said with a grimace as she pulled a water bottle from her wet bag, and he just laughed at the dog comment. Natsu peeled off his dripping wet wristband and turned around to set it on the table and began drying off his chest.

And that’s when Lucy saw it. Or them.

Lucy’s heart jumped into her throat at the long gashes running down his back. Or rather, gashes was a bit of an overstatement. They were scratches.

They were _scratches_. And she knew they didn’t come from fighting off the bandits from Tinter.

Oh she knew. _She_ made those scratches.

A blush crept furiously up her face as last night’s events flooded back into her mind once again. She hadn’t even thought about it all day. She had such a nice time with Natsu today, and he’ll remember this, but… but why doesn’t he remember last night? Why hasn’t he mentioned anything about it to her? Or was it that he didn’t want to remember?

It just made her so… so _angry_ that the two of them bonded in the most intimate way two people can, and he doesn’t even say a **word** of it to her!

With an angry huff, she gripped her water bottle hard before hurling it straight at his head.

“Ouch! Fuck, Lucy!” he cried as he turned around in annoyance but his anger melted away as he saw the tears streaming down her face. “Luce-”

“Did it mean nothing?”

“Uh… wh-what?” Natsu stuttered, rubbing the now forming lump on the back of his head.

“Did _it_ mean anything at all to you?” she cried, hiccupping at the end. “Do you not remember? Is it just you being Natsu or something?! Or did you just do it because you thought it would be fun? Huh?”

Natsu was at a loss for words, he still hadn’t spoken a single word in his defense. The only sounds heard in the room were Lucy’s choked out sobs. His eyes grew wide as she choked out her very last question.

“Do you regret it?”

At that question Natsu marched across the room in two long strides and swiftly pulled her into a tight embrace. Lucy tried with all her might to break free from him, but the more she struggled, the tighter he hugged her to his chest. She could hear his heart hammering fast against her ear. It was a couple of moments before he finally spoke.

“Of course I don’t regret it,” he whispered. She realized, however tight he was holding her, she could feel him shivering. And his voiced shook as he said, “It meant… _everything_ to me.”

_Everything…!_

_Everything. It meant… **everything** to me._

She heard it over and over in her head. And that should have made her happy. Well, it _did_ make her happy. So very happy. But all she could do was cry.

Finally finding her voice again, she asked, “Wh-why didn’t you say anything to me about it?”

She felt him shake with mirth as he said, “I dunno… I guess it’s just me being Natsu.”

She tittered and sniffed. “I just… wish you’d have talked to me about it. This whole day I thought that maybe… maybe you didn’t like… _it_.”

Natsu’s eyes grew wide at her words, a small blush creeping across his cheeks. “Oh.” He set his chin atop her head and ran his hand over the back of her shoulder. “It was… you-you were…” he swallowed hard, “a-amazing…”

She smiled, running her hands up his back, and remembering what she did to him. “I-I’m sorry I scratched your back.”

He chuckled. “Guess that means I was pretty good.”

“Na-Natsu!” she said, lightly hitting his shoulder. “Don’t be a perv!”

“Hey, I’ve got _proof_ that you loved it right here-”

“Noooo!! Stop stop stop! Stop talking!” she yelled as she pounded on his chest with him laughing as hard as he could. He caught her by the wrists pulling her into him once again with a smile. But his smile slowly faded as he studied her tear stained face. He gently placed his fingers under her chin and leaned down to brush his lips against hers.

The kiss was chaste, nice and sweet. But it wasn’t long before he pressed his lips firmly against her own and cupped her face in his hands. Lucy stood on her tiptoes to deepen the kiss, softly placing her hands in each crook of his arm. After what felt like an eternity they pulled apart, Natsu setting his forehead to Lucy’s, and placing one last peck on her lips. Brushing his nose lightly against hers, the two stood there, eyes closed, just letting the feel of each other sink in.

“So,” Lucy finally spoke, “what are we gonna do? About everyone at the guild? I don’t think we should tell them just yet.”

Natsu sighed. “As much as I’d like to rub having you in the ice prick’s face, I guess I agree.”

“I mean, Cana scanned me for, like, two minutes and she already knew something happened with me.”

“So, we’ll break it to them… slowly,” Natsu chuckled. Then his face grew serious and he leaned down to her eyelevel. “But first there’s one thing we need to get out of the way first.”

Lucy blinked, a little confused. “What’s that?”

“Lucy…” Natsu began, taking Lucy’s hands, “will you be my girlfriend?”

Lucy’s stomach fluttered at the question. Tears threatened to spill over, yet she couldn’t stop the smile that spread up to her eyes.

She didn’t respond with words.

She simply nodded her head.

Morning came, the rain was gone, and the sun was shining bright.

Lucy stretched her arms to the sky, basking in the warmth. “I’m so happy the rain is gone! Now let’s get home so I can pay my rent.”

Natsu laughed, his canines showing, “Alright, let’s get going before it starts raining again.”

The two began walking their way home down the same dirt path. But this time there wasn’t a contentment in silence.

In fact, the two didn’t stop talking until they arrived back at the guild.

“I can’t wait to give everyone a taste of my food,” Lucy said, smiling bright. “Happy’ll sure enjoy the salmon!”

“First thing I’m gonna do is steal Erza’s strawberry shortcake!” Natsu said slyly.

“Natsu, she’ll kill you,” Lucy spoke matter-of-factly.

“I’m feeling bold today!”

“Bold or stupid?”

“It’ll be fun!” he said, shaking with mirth. “At least I’m not challenging Cana to a drinking contest,” as he spoke he reached over and laced his fingers with Lucy’s, “now _that’s_ stupid. I’d have a hangover for a month.”

“No one in the guild has beaten her, either,” Lucy admitted, absentmindedly lacing her fingers along with his.

“The only person that’s beaten her was Bacchus during the Grand Magic Games.”

“Cana and Bacchus…” Lucy thought for a moment. “We should try setting them up on a date.”

“Cana and Bacchus?” Natsu inquired, raising an eyebrow. He thought for a moment and nodded. “That would be interesting. They’d have a big drunken wedding, and all their kids would be drunks just like them!”

“You make it sound likes that’s their only trait!”

“You know I’m kidding,” Natsu chuckled. “But we could ask Grandpa Makarov to…”

Natsu and Lucy happily conversed with one another about anything, walking hand in hand. They couldn’t tell their friends about their relationship yet, but they knew that they couldn’t hide it for long. Their friends were perceptive, after all.

For now they were just content in each other’s company.


	3. Chapter 3

It had been exactly a week since Natsu and Lucy’s secret relationship started, and as far as they knew, the rest of the guild had no idea. One would think that it would put a damper on their relationship.

No. In fact it made it much more entertaining for Natsu and Lucy.

Cana was still trying to get the name of Lucy’s mystery partner (which made Natsu laugh really hard when no one else was around), and Juvia was still highly convinced that Lucy slept with Gray. Finally after a couple of days of seeing a dejected Juvia in the guild, Lucy admitted to her that the mystery man definitely was not Gray. And for the next hour or so, Lucy happily held her and patted her head while Juvia cried tears of joy.

Natsu and Lucy would sometimes hide in the shadowed corners of the guild, where no would really go, and would relish in the fact in what they were doing right under the guild’s nose. The two would leave for a little while only to come back looking disheveled and happy, and their guildmates were none the wiser. They didn’t suspect that anything was going on between the two. If anything, if they were to notice the way they were acting, they would put it off as the way the two always acted. Stealing glances at one another, secretly holding hands under the tables only made the secret of their relationship much more fun.

And seeing Lucy’s smiling face was making her girlfriends so very angry.

When Natsu was off playing around with Happy and Lucy was left to herself at the guild, the girls made their move. Lucy was sitting at the bar, quietly reading a book and sipping some tea when Erza, Juvia, Levy, and Cana all sat around her. Mirajane was already standing near her from behind the bar cleaning some of the mugs.

Lucy looked up and around at her friends. “Hey, guys,” she said with a smile before looking back down. Cana, already obviously pissed, snatched the book from Lucy’s hands and tossed it over her shoulder. “Hey! I didn’t even put my bookmark back in!”

“You know what this is about, Lucy,” Mira sounded innocent, but the look in her eyes would deadly. Lucy arched an eyebrow and said, “I’m sorry I don’t follow,” as she took another sip of her tea. Cana then snatched that out of her hands and tossed it over her shoulder.

“Welp, okay, uh, what the _hell_ are you doing, Cana? You better hope that didn’t hit my book!”

“Cut the shit, Heartfilia,” Cana said monotone, and then repeated what Mira said before her.

“What?”

“WHO DID YOU SLEEP WITH, LUCY?” all of the girls collectively turned to stare at Erza, the source of the outburst. Erza’s face turned the color of her hair as she cleared her throat and said, “W-We would really like to know, as your friends, who it was you shared an intimate moment with that day.”

“Yeah, Lu-chan! I’d tell you if I did anything,” Levy said sadly. Which was true, Levy and Lucy _did_ tell each other almost everything.

“W-Well, I just don’t think I should tell anyone yet,” Lucy stuttered. “Isn’t it my business?”

Mira sighed. “Well, of course it’s your business, Lucy. We just thought the guy had to be pretty special to get you to sleep with him.”

Lucy tilted her head in confusion at Mira’s statement. “What do you mean?”

“Well, it’s pretty obvious that you didn’t want to sleep with anyone until you were dating him for a long time,” Juvia smiled as she spoke. “We just thought that maybe he was an old sweetheart of yours or something.”

“We know you better than you think, Lu-chan,” Levy said matter-of-factly.

Lucy gave a soft smile at their confessions. “You guys,” Lucy murmured, a small blush creeping across her cheeks.

“So,” Cana said with both of her hands on her cheeks. “Is he special?”

Lucy chuckled a bit before saying, “Yeah, he’s real special.”

* * *

 

“Well, everyone,” Master Makarov began to say one day from the balcony. “I think it’s high time we had a little fun around here! So I would like to announce just what I think we all need! Mirajane, take it away!”

Mirajane smiled brightly and said in her bubbly high voice, “Yes, sir, Master! We’ve decided to throw a big party for everyone in Fairy Tail and other guilds. We’ve decided to call it the Fairy Ball, since we’ll be the ones hosting it! We’ll ask guilds from all over to come and have a fun time. There will be food, drinks, music, and much more, but we’re going to need some help planning it. We’re hoping to have it this weekend, and I’ve already made the invitations, so we need to get the ball rolling! So who wants to take care of getting a caterer?”

Immediately Erza stood and practically yelled, “I’ll do the food! Me, I’ll do it!!” Mirajane smiled as she wrote down Erza’s name. Natsu mumbled next to Lucy, “Great, all that’s gonna be there will be shortcake and tea.” Lucy bit her lip to stifle the giggle threatening to leave her mouth. Natsu bumped her with his elbow, causing her giggle to slip out and his cheeks puffing out a bit.

“S-Stop it, Natsu,” she said in giggles. He responded by poking her sides, which were ticklish. “N-Natsu, hehe, d-don’t!”

“Lucy,” he chuckled,” sh-shhh, Mira’s talking, don’t be so rude!”

“Shut up, dummyyyheehee!” she strangled out as he pinched her sides. She raised her hand in order to push him away, but that’s when Mirajane all of a sudden called out their names.

“Great! So Natsu and Lucy are in charge of decorations!”

“Wait, what?”

“Is it okay if you guys do it alone? We’re gonna need all the help we can delivering the invites, so...”

Lucy’s eyebrows raised at Mira’s statement and then looked over at Natsu, who was smiling slyly. “Yeah,” he said in a low voice before breaking his gaze from Lucy, “That’ll be just fine, Mira.”

“Okay, so then now we’re gonna split up into teams to deliver invitations, so Shadow Gear and Gajeel, could you guys take care of…” Mirajane went on to assign groups to deliver invites, but Natsu just sat staring at Lucy with his chin in his hand. Lucy blushed under his gaze.

“Wh-what is it?” she stuttered. He gave a soft chuckle as a small smile played across his lips.

“You look pretty today,” he murmured. Lucy’s heart thumped fast in her chest at his comment and quickly turned her gaze to the table they were sitting at. And as Natsu quietly took her hand in his under the table, Lucy wondered if they’d get any real work done.

* * *

 

Natsu grumbled as he held a roll of streamers Lucy was hanging all around the guild hall through his finger. Pissed was an understatement for how he was feeling at the moment.

“Happy, could you hang this on the other end of the balcony, about in the middle?” Lucy said as she cut off the streamer from the roll Natsu was holding.

“Aye, Lucy!” Happy exclaimed, taking the end Lucy was holding and flying to the balcony. He pushed it against the balcony railing and yelled, “Here?”

“No, a little lower,” Lucy yelled back, making a lowering motion with her hand as she said so. “A little more… a little more… there! That’s perfect! Tape the others that we do along there that way too, okay?”

“Aye!” Lucy smiled as she grabbed the pink streamer roll from his erect finger and replaced it with a blue roll. Repeating what she did with the last roll of streamers, Lucy began counting each time she pulled a foot of streamer from the roll. “There’ll only be a couple more streamers after this one,” Lucy told Natsu.

“Yeah, yeah,” he mumbled.

“Could you blow up some balloons next, Natsu?” Lucy asked him without taking her eyes off the blue streamer.

“Yeah, I guess,” he groused noisily, and then said in a quieter tone, “At least then I can use my lips for somethin- ouch!” Lucy flicked him on the head before going right back to counting feet of blue streamer.

“This isn’t some excuse for a make-out session, Natsu, we have to get this done,” Lucy hissed.

“I could get this done in tw-”

“Done _right_ , Natsu,” Lucy glared at him, “not done-quick-so-we-can-make-out, dipstick. This is gonna be a big party, it has to look snazzy.”

Natsu threw his head back with a loud groan and mumbled out a quick, “Fine.”

“Okay, Happy!” The blue cat quickly flew over and took the end of the streamer in his paw before flying to the other end of the balcony and hanging it. Finally after the streamers were hung and done, Lucy pulled out bags of balloons from one of the boxes Mirajane left for them. A half-hour in, they didn’t have many balloons blown up. It would be hard to blow up so many balloons for a giant guild hall with only three people.

“This isn’t working!” Natsu yelled. “I feel like I’m gonna pass out from lack of oxygen!”

Lucy sighed. It was going to be too hard. “Um… hmm,” she thought for a moment, her finger tapping her chin. “Oh, I know! There’s gotta be helium tank in the storage room from Asuka’s birthday party, I’ll go see if I can find it. You two keep blowing up balloons till I get back.” Lucy stood up and headed toward the storage room behind the bar. Clicking on the light, she rummaged through some of the discarded items that the guild had forgotten over the years until she saw the top of the helium tank.

“Aha!” Lucy exclaimed as she moved toward it. Suddenly she heard the door slam shut of felt something tug her backwards by the wrist. Lucy let out a groan because she knew exactly what pulled her back. Or rather _who_ pulled her back.

“Natsu.” She growled. “What are you doing?” He wordlessly pushed her against the wall of the storage room laying long kisses on her jawline.

“I know why you asked Happy to help us,” he said in between kisses. Lucy face heated up.

“I-I asked him to help because we _needed_ help, the b-ball is tomorrow night, after all,” she stuttered.

“Sure that’s your backup reason; the cat’s convenient both ways, it’s a win-win for you,” he mumbled into her ear. “That’s no way to treat your nakama, Luce.”

“We need to get work done, Natsu!”

“Yeah, but,” he sighed, “with all this planning and everyone running around the guild, and you and Mira going out and getting supplies and junk, I haven’t… well, I haven’t been…”

Lucy peered up into his face. “What?” she said in a soft tone.

He twisted the little bow on the shoulder of her blouse, not looking her in the eyes. “I haven’t… been able to kiss you at all lately…”

Lucy’s eyes softened at his confession. While it was fun at first, Lucy could see that having their relationship be a secret was finally running Natsu down. He wanted to be able to hold her in public for all the world to see, that Lucy was all his, instead of having to sneak around. “Natsu…” she wrapped her arms around his neck and stepped onto her tiptoes as she placed her lips over his. He immediately sank into the kiss, his hands going around her waist and pulling her closer. A low groan erupted from his throat as he forced his tongue into her mouth, fervently needing to feel her. Feelings from days of not even being able to touch her were conveyed through the single hot kiss. Finally after breaking apart for oxygen, Natsu pulled her into a tight embrace, her face snuggling right into his scarf. Her arms wrapped around his back and squeezed him before reluctantly pushing him away.

“We need to finish the decorating,” Lucy said, her face flushed and lips swollen from his desperate kisses.

Grabbing the helium tank and pushing a strand of hair from her face, Natsu nodded and the two walked out of the storage room, heading back to the main guild hall. Happy saw them as they walked back to where he was sitting at one of the tables pushed to the sides so there was room for a dance floor.

“What took you guys so long?” he inquired. “I can’t blow up any more balloons by myself!”

“We just… had a hard time finding what we were looking for,” Lucy said with a soft smile. Natsu set the helium tank next to the table and sat down.

“Let’s hurry and finish so we can go get some grub!” he said as his stomach growled.

“Aye! I want fish!”

“We’re far from finished guys.”

The blue cat and pink dragon slayer collectively groaned as they filled up the rest of the balloons with helium.


	4. Chapter 4

Invites were delivered, caterer was hired, and the decorations were gorgeous. All that was left was to wait for the party that night. Well, almost. There was still a matter that every woman at Fairy Tail needed to take care of.

It was time for dress shopping.

Cana was the one who asked the girls to accompany her, saying that it would be fun to help each other find the cutest dresses. Lucy agreed, it _was_ always fun when she and her friends went out together, especially when it involved shopping.

“Hey, biotches,” Cana said as she strolled towards Levy and Juvia sitting at the bar. “Wanna go dress shopping with Lucy and me? We are so gonna be the talk of the town tonight!”

“That sounds like fun! Sure, I’ll go!” Levy said with a smile. Juvia smiled but politely declined.

“I’ve had a dress ready for months waiting for the right occasion to take Gray-sama’s breath away!” she said with a blush and her hands pressed to her cheeks. Cana laughed.

“Alright, fair enough!” she looked over at Mirajane and Erza. “What about you two?”

“We’d love to, but we’re both helping the caterer set up today, so we got out dresses yesterday,” Mirajane spoke. Erza’s face immediately lit up as she said in an all too cute tone, “Mine is purple~!”

“Aw, wish you guys could have gone with us,” Cana said sadly, “but that’s alright! Just me, Lucy, and Levy are fine.”

“Um…” said a small voice from behind Lucy. “Can I come too, Cana-san?”

Cana and Lucy turned around to see Wendy Marvell nervously twirling one of her blue pigtails around her fingers. Her eyebrows were knitted up and a weak smile appeared on her face. “I want to get a pretty dress, too!”

Lucy grinned, pulling Wendy into a tight hug. “Of course you can come! You’re gonna be the prettiest girl at the ball tonight, Wendy!” Wendy giggled as she hugged her friend back. It was definitely the right choice in bringing Wendy to Fairy Tail. Lucy didn’t even want to think what it would be like without her and Charle. Happy especially wouldn’t want to think about what it was like without Charle.

“Well, let’s get going then,” Cana said quickly. “We don’t have all day!”

She and the girls started heading out the guild. Lucy spotted Natsu sitting with Happy at one of the tables pushed against the wall near the door. He was snapping his fingers and watching flames spark up as Happy lounged on the table. Natsu watched her before she headed out.

“Where’re you guys goin’?” he asked, leaning back in his chair.

“Dress shopping for tonight,” Lucy said simply.

“Oh, right, for the party,” he reminded himself as he set the chair back on the floor. “Do you want me to walk you to the guild tonight?”

Lucy smiled. She could figure out the underlying meaning behind his words. _I’ll pick you up later tonight._ “Yeah, that sounds fine,” she said, rubbing her hand into his soft locks. He leaned into her hand, his eyes beginning to drift closed, but quickly retreated when he realized that the others were watching them. He gave a toothy grin and waved to her as she walked out of the guild.

As the four girls walked down the streets of Magnolia toward the shopping district, Cana sighed. “You’re so lucky, Lucy, having a friend like Natsu. You two have such a good relationship.”

Lucy couldn’t help but laugh in her head. Oh, they had a great relationship. And it surprised Lucy that even after three weeks, Cana and no one else in the guild had figured out that Lucy and Natsu’s relationship had gone far beyond just friends. And she thought her friends were perceptive.

“So are you asking anybody to the ball, Cana?” Lucy asked.

Cana _pthbthb_ ed and shouted to the sky, “I don’t need no goddamn man! I’m just fine with my girls.”

“Aww, Cana, that’s-”

“And definitely booze.”

“Oh, eh.. never mind, then… What about you, Wendy?”

“Romeo-kun asked me,” Wendy said with a smile and a blush. Lucy gasped. The kid is bold! She didn’t think Romeo would ask her right out. “How did it happen?” Cana asked.

Wendy shrugged her shoulders and linked her arms behind her back. “I dunno, we were playing under the big tree in the plaza. When we sat down to take a break, I looked over to see him staring intensely at the ground with his hands balled into fist. And he all of a sudden yelled “WENDY, GO TO THE BALL WITH ME!” so I said yes.”

“Awwwgghh, What a cutie! Romance is so fun!” groaned Cana. “I want one!”

“Didn’t you just get done telling us that you don’t need a boyfriend?”

“What? Is that what you got from what I said?”

Lucy sighed. “Oh boy, Cana.”

The four girls crossed the threshold of the boutique and quickly traversed to the dresses at the end. All of the dresses were simply stunning. There were dresses in every color and every style one could imagine. Even if Magnolia wasn’t the biggest city, it did have some pretty nice stores to shop in.

Wendy quickly picked one, holding it up to her chest and saying, “Look! This one’s green!” It was a cute little dress that ruffled at the end and had an empire waist with a small white bow in the middle. “I’m gonna go try it on!!” she said excitedly, rushing into one of the dressing rooms. Lucy smiled.

“She’s so sweet,” Levy said as she sifted through dresses.

“Isn’t she? I swear, I’m gonna get diabetes from her or something,” Cana said with a laugh.

“Ohh! This one’s nice!” Levy pulled a dark blue and white dress from the rack, holding it up to her chest and fanning out the lower part with her other hand. It was very Levy, it looked like something straight out of one of her favorite fiction novels. As Wendy emerged from the dressing room, Levy happily trotted in to try on the dress.

“What do you think?” Wendy asked Cana and Lucy, twirling around and making the bottom of the dress swirl around her legs. The dress, color and size, fit her perfectly, and it just barely stopped above her knees.

“It’s perfect, Wendy! It’s so cute!” Lucy squealed. “Is that the one you want to get?”

“Yes! I think I’ll find a bracelet to go with it, too!” Wendy smiled and trotted over to the accessories. Her finger came up to tap her chin as she looked for the perfect bracelet to go with her dress. But there were so many that it was hard to choose! Finally, she just asked Lucy to help her pick one that would fit. After that she went to find shoes. She really wanted to look nice for the night.

“Ta-da! How does it look?” Levy burst out of the dressing room sporting the ball gown she wanted to try on. The dress had ruffles that went to about her shins, the white visible from under the layer of blue. “Maybe this’ll get his attention,” Levy murmured under her breath, thinking that the other two girls wouldn’t hear her.

But of course they did.

“Get whose attention?!” Cana exclaimed, her face contorting into a deviously curious expression.

“N-No one’s!” Levy stuttered out, her face beginning to flush.

“Oh, please, Cana, I think we both know exactly who it is,” Lucy snickered, turning to her friend.

“Noo, no you don’t!”

Both girls turned their heads collectively back at Levy and said in unison, “GAJEEL.”

Levy’s face nearly lit on fire as she covered it with her hands. “Noooooo, shut uuuuup!”

“Oh, Levy-chan,” giggled Lucy. “There’s nothing to be embarrassed about!”

“Yeah, there’s no reason to hide it from us. **RIGHT. LUCY**?” Cana said as she squeezed Lucy’s arm hard.

“Yeah,” Lucy said, sweating profusely.

“Oh, so you agree?” Cana smiled devilishly. “Then tell us about your mystery man!!”

“Whyyyy?!” Lucy whined. “There isn’t anything to tell!”

“Yes there is!” Levy and Cana cried.

“Ha! Like what?!” Lucy shouldn’t have even asked because Cana and Levy went wild after that.

“What was he like?”

“What’s his favorite color?”

“Was he your first?”

“Have you known him for a long time?”

“Did he ravish you?”

“Is he handsome?”

“What’s his name? THE NAME!” the two finished together. Lucy knew she couldn’t get out of it.

She sighed. “Fine! He’s nice and very funny. His favorite color is red. Y-Yes… he was my first. I suppose now I’ve known him for a long time. No, Cana! Damn!” _Lies_ , Lucy thought to herself on that last one, images of his scratched up back resurfacing in her mind. “Yes, he’s very handsome.”

Cana and Levy looked slightly satisfied. “And?”

Lucy gave a confused look. “And?”

“…”

“…”

“… I’m not telling you his name.”

Cana and Levy threw their hands in the air and groaned.

* * *

 

The night had finally come, and everyone was making their way to the lit up Fairy Tail guild. From far and wide, their friends from other guilds came pouring into the guild hall. Lucy was busy trying to finish getting ready before Natsu came to pick her up. She had just finishing putting in her earrings when Natsu stepped through her bedroom door wearing a simple suit, a black vest, white shirt underneath, and his scarf sitting above a red tie. She looked over to see him frozen. He was staring at her, his mouth slightly ajar and a blush steadily settling itself upon his cheeks. He swallowed hard, taking one look at her dress. “You… You look b-b-beautiful.”

Lucy smiled, placing her hand to her face timidly. “Thank you,” she said, looking up to him from under her lashes. The dress she chose was a low cut white spaghetti strap, which, like Wendy’s, was an empire waist with a silky black sash. Each layer of the dress was a different length that looked as if they were ruffled at the bottom. Placed atop her creamy shoulders and hooking around her elbows was a soft shawl, and her hair was plaited and tied with a white ribbon back into a cute bun, courtesy of Cancer. Natsu didn’t know whether she looked like a princess or an angel.

 _She’s like… a fairy…_ he thought after a moment. He realized that he had once again been staring after Happy nearly scared him out of his wits when the blue cat flew through the door.

“Wow, Lucy! You look so pretty!” Happy said loudly, landing on her desk. Lucy thanked him with a giggle and a pet on his head. The blue cat himself looked snazzy. He was wearing a little black suit that looked similar to Natsu’s, except that he was wearing a little black tie. “Come on, let’s go! I wanna go see Charle- I mean, I wanna go see everyone!”

Natsu, finally regaining his composure, laughed and held out his arm to Lucy. “Shall we get going to the ball, Princess?”

“Funny nickname, ha ha,” she said sarcastically, silently taking arm.

When the trio finally go to the guild, Lucy was surprised to see how many people actually turned up. The guild hall was full to the brim with guests from Lamia Scale, Quatro Cerberus, Mermaid Heel, Blue Pegasus, and more, many of which Lucy immediately recognized from the Grand Magic Games.

Everything looked great. The decorations they spent so much time on, the food (which wasn’t _all_ shortcake), and all of the guests were dressed to the nines. Looking around at all of her friends, Lucy knew that this was going to be a night to remember.

Too bad that it wasn’t all fun. In fact, most of it was downright crazy.

The first being that Natsu and Lucy still had not told anyone about their relationship. In retrospect, they really should have done that before the ball, but if they had told everyone then they wouldn’t be left alone during the ball. At least he and Lucy could be alone together.

However, something was getting in the way of that. And her name was Lucy.

Lucy looked stunning, and even that was a gross understatement. Her voluptuous body stood out with the help of her gorgeous dress, accentuating her breasts and hips perfectly. She had tons of the men at the party practically kissing her feet and asking her to dance.

And it was pissing him the fuck off. And to top it off, the ice prick wanted a piece of her, too.

“Wow, Lucy,” Gray said, a suave smile playing across his lips. “You look great tonight. Would you like to dance with me?”

“Thank you, Gray, I would love to,” Lucy said with a grin. The look on Natsu’s face after that would have been enough to kill a man as Gray placed his hand on her hip.

Now there was a fire in his belly, and he was not happy with it. Finally the song ended and began playing to another song, but Gray still kept Lucy held close. Natsu placed his hand heavily on Gray’s shoulder as he spoke, venom clear in his voice, “Gray, why don’t you give someone else a turn to dance with her?”

Gray glared at him. “What the hell do you care, flame brain? It’s just Lucy.”

But that was just the point. It _was_ just Lucy. His Lucy. _His_ Lucy. He didn’t want anyone else to touch her, be near her, or look at her with those men’s eyes, mentally undressing her, fantasizing about her. It made him boil with anger.

The grip on Gray’s shoulder began to tighten, Natsu’s other hand balling into a fist-

“Gray-sama!!” a bubbly voiced squealed. “Won’t you dance me?!!”

“Oh, shit!” Gray hissed as he quickly let go of Lucy and ran off into the crowd of mages. Lucy giggled as Juvia, clad in a beautiful aqua gown, chased after the ice-make mage of her dreams. Lucy gazed up at Natsu, a worried look covering her face. She reached up and lightly touched his face, causing him to flinch.

Her eyebrows knitted together as she asked, “Natsu, are you okay?”

He huffed air in through his nose, trying to calm himself. “I’m… fine…” he said heavily.

Lucy frowned, knowing that he was lying and sighed. “Alright. “I’m gonna go get a drink.”

She walked over to one of the tables with all kinds of food and drink sitting on them and filled a small cup with punch. She looked to her right to see Gajeel casually picking food off of Levy’s plate as the two talked to one another. To her left she saw Cana, drunk off her ass, and Bacchus, also drunk off his ass, having an absolute blast. Cana was holding one of the balloons Lucy and Natsu had blown up the day before and sucked some of the helium from it.

“You can’t bea’ me in a drinkin’ contes’ again,” Bacchus squeaked, his voice high off of helium.

“Uh, escuse me? Tha’ firs time doen’t even matter, okay?” Cana sounded like a drunk squirrel. “I could bea’ you irf I wranted to, uhkay?”

 _Yeah, those two are made for each other_ , Lucy thought with a giggle. _Maybe I should set them up on a date!_

“My, my, my, Lucy, do you look absolutely breathtaking.”

Lucy turned to see Leo the Lion leaning towards her, a smirk appearing on his lips. His hand reached up to twirl a strand of her blonde hair around his finger. “Would you like to dance with me, Princess?” he asked elegantly, taking her in his arms before she could even say a word.

“There are no words to describe your stunning looks, my Master,” he said as he swayed along with her.

“Ahehe, thank you, Loke,” she said sheepishly. “Please don’t call me master.”

“Then perhaps Highness, or Goddess suits you better?” his fingers rubbing circles on her hip.

“How about just Lucy, huh?”

“As you wish, my Lady, as it sounds wonderful next to my name.”

Lucy sighed, she wasn’t gonna get through to this guy. Suddenly she saw Natsu storm past her and up the stairs to the outside balcony. Her eyebrows knitted together as she watched him go. She apologized to Loke, untangling herself from his vice like grip, and ran up the stairs after him.

She walked out into the cool night air to see Natsu leaning on the wooden railing. She could hear the muffled music and conversations of the party goers having fun inside. Natsu had been acting funny all night, and she just couldn’t place why.

“Natsu?” she said softly. “Are you okay?”

“Yup. Fine. Toootally fine,” he said bitterly. “Watching men drool over my girlfriend all night is the best feeling ever.”

Lucy’s eyes softened. Lightly touching his shoulder, she said, “Are you jealous?”

Natsu’s green eyes were wild as his neck snapped to look at her. “What? No. No, no, no, I am not jealous. I don’t get jealous.”

“Natsu, it’s okay if you’re jealous-”

“I’m not jealous! It’s just… ugh! If everyone knew that you were with me, this wouldn’t be happening! Every man with a brain wouldn’t even think of trying to touch you, let alone have the balls to ask you to dance and-!”

“Natsu!” she said, taking his face gently into her hands. A panicked look crossed his face as he quickly pulled her into his arms. Lucy didn’t speak anymore, she simply sank into his embrace, closing her eyes and feeling his warmth shield her from the cold night air. She didn’t know how much the attention from the other mages had made him feel so uncomfortable. She felt so bad about it.

“Nats-”

“I love you.”

Lucy’s eyes shot open. “Wha-what what did-”

“I love you, Lucy,” he said again, burying his nose in her hair. She could feel his heart nearly bursting from chest. Tears broke through as he continued. “I love you so much, Lucy. You take my breath away with one look from you. When I’m away from you, all I can think of is the next time I’m gonna see you. I don’t want anyone else to look at you the way I do.”

“N… *hic* Natsu…!” Tears spilled over as she quietly sobbed into his chest, wrapping her arms tightly around his back. A slow song could be heard from the inside of the party. Natsu pulled away from her slightly, placing a hand on Lucy’s hip and taking her hand in his other and began swaying slowly to the music. Lucy wiped her tears away with a smile as he leaned down and touched his forehead to hers. The two kept swaying together even after the song had ended, content just being in each other’s arms.

Natsu opened his eyes, and stared longingly into her own. The green emeralds bore into her head, him giving her this smoldering look that she had only seen once before from him.

“Do you…” he whispered, “Do you want to get out of here?”

Lucy swallowed, biting her lip as she, too, stared into his eyes. She gave a short nod in response and hurried behind him as the two snuck out of the guild.

Little did they know that a short blunette and a tall dragon slayer had heard and seen everything.


	5. Chapter 5

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> This is a Gajevy-centric chapter!

It was official. Lucy was the talk of the ball, and it had only just begun! Levy watched as she arrived with Natsu and Happy in the drop dead gorgeous dress that she had seen her buy. Levy thought for sure she was trying to impress someone at the ball, but there were so many men asking her to dance that Levy couldn’t place who it could possibly be. _Whoever the guy is, he sure is lucky to have a girl like Lucy_ , she thought.

Levy sighed. Levy wasn’t jealous of all the attention Lucy was receiving, she just wished, looking to her left, that a certain would give her some attention. Gajeel, clad in a white vest and black dress shirt, was busy too busy picking food off of Levy’s plate to actually pay attention to her.

“Gajeel?” Levy growled. “Why don’t you get your own plate?”

“Because you picked out good shit, shrimp,” Gajeel said, laughing. Levy sighed again, secretly stealing a glance at the man beside her. Even when he was calm, his red eyes were intense. His jet black hair hung loose around his shoulder and his metal piercings glinted in the light. _He’s really handsome,_ she thought to herself. She watched him lick his lips, in an all too sexy way, his mouth moving after doing so. That’s when Levy registered that his lips were saying something.

“Wh-what?” Levy stuttered with a blush.

“‘Are you okay?’ I said.”

“Oh, I’m fine! I just, um…” she quickly thought of something to save herself. Looking out at all of the dancing party goers, she quickly said, “I was just thinking how I would love it if someone asked me to dance.”

“You wanna dance?” he asked her.

“Yes, but I don’t think anyone’s gonna ask me,” she confessed sheepishly.

“No, I mean do you want to dance with me?” Levy craned her neck to look to him once more as an inquisitive look appeared on his face, waiting for her reply. She fell completely silent. _Dur, Levy! Gajeel just asked you to dance, say something!!_

“C-Can you even dance?” _That’s not what I had in mind to say, dummy._ But instead of being insulted, Gajeel shook with mirth as he took Levy’s plate from her hands and set it down on the table. He pointed his thumb to the dance floor and said, “Just follow my lead, shrimp.”

She followed him out to the dance floor when a fast song started playing. And he blew her away. They twisted and turned and twirled and dipped, laughing with each and every move they made. Song after song, he lead her in new and exciting dances until their foreheads were both coated in a thin layer of sweat.

Needing to cool themselves off a bit, the two circled around the upper balcony, talking and laughing while watching the party goers below them. They once again had a plate of random food they were both picking away at.

“No way, I could never eat peppers! They’re way too hot!” Levy laughed.

“I could eat a barrel of these things,” he said, setting down the plate as he took one of the red spicy foods and bit it to the stem.

“Guess that means you don’t like sweets,” Levy said. “Usually people who like spicy food don’t really like sweet things.”

“I like sweet things,” Gajeel said, turning his head towards her. He stood close to her, gazing down at her. She looked up at him from under her lashes, her cheeks growing hot. He took a step closer, his hand lightly brushing her elbow. Levy’s heart was hammering fast in her chest, ready to burst at any moment.

“Levy…” he said. Her stomach fluttered at his voice whispering her name. His hand glided down her arm to her hand, hooking his fingers into hers. Swallowing hard, he murmured, “… can I kiss you?”

Levy’s tummy flipped several times and her knees wobbled as she heard his question repeat over and over again in her head.

She quickly sucked in air before saying, “O… Okay…”

Gajeel swallowed hard once more and slowly brought his hand up to her face. Rough fingers brushing gently against her chin, he lowered his head to meet hers. His hands set heavily on her shoulders as he softly, _so softly_ , pressed his lips to hers.

It only lasted for a second. He pulled away yet stayed so close. His eyes lowered as a deep red blush played across his face. She didn’t even know he could blush.

“How… how was that?” he whispered, his close breath warming Levy’s lips.

“I-I don’t know…” she replied softly. “I don’t have enough analysis to come to a valid conclusion.”  She looked up, gazing into his crimson orbs. “You m-might need to do it again.”

Gajeel gave a short laugh. “If it helps,” he said quietly, not taking another moment to press his lips to hers once more. He didn’t pull away this time. One of his hands moved from her shoulder to the back of her head and the other snaked around her waist, pulling her closer to him. Her arms raised and wrapped around his neck, his mouth moving in time against hers.

The two pulled apart, Gajeel’s hand cupping Levy’s small face. Their foreheads lay against each other, gasping for air. Gajeel grinned as he greedily claimed her lips once again. Wrapping both his arms around her waist, hoisting her into the air and spinning her around. He felt her smile into the kiss after he spun her, causing him to suddenly swipe his tongue across her bottom lip. She gasped, leading him to plunge his tongue into her mouth. At this, Levy’s heart pumped fast in her chest, her head began to dizzy.

She pulled away with an “oohh..” Gajeel opened his eyes and set her down onto her feet only to catch her in his arms a second later. “Are you okay, shrimp?” he questioned, looking at her red face.

“I-I-I just,” she stammered, “f-feel really warm.”

Gajeel chuckled. “Am I that good of a kisser?” She responded by her face reddening even deeper. He shook with mirth and said, “Why don’t we go outside for some fresh air for a minute?”

Levy nodded and started heading towards the outside balcony. Gajeel took her hand in his and laced his fingers with hers. She leaned her head on his arm as they walked. They were almost outside when they started hearing voices.

“Natsu? Are you okay?” said a female voice.

Levy, feeling a little better from the cold air, looked up at Gajeel. “That’s Lucy and Natsu,” Levy whispered before going back to listen.

“Toootally fine,” they heard Natsu say. “Watching men drool over my girlfriend all night is the best feeling ever.”

Gajeel’s eyebrow arched. “Girlfriend? Since when is Salamander dating?” They kept listening.

“Natsu, it’s okay if you’re jealous-”

“I’m not jealous! It’s just… ugh! If everyone knew that you were with me, this wouldn’t be happening!”

Levy gasped. Suddenly it all clicked together. The mystery man, the smiling, the close relationship. Levy finally saw it, although she wondered why she hadn’t figured it out before. It was Natsu all along!

“I love you, Lucy,” she heard him say. Levy brought her hand to her mouth and looked at Gajeel.

“Natsu’s so sweet,” Levy said, almost feeling teary eyed.

“Do you… do you want to get out of here?” She saw Lucy nod at him and they both hurried off to sneak out of the guild.

“Oh my!” Levy whispered with a blush.

“Who knew Salamander had it in him? And with bunny girl, too.”


	6. Chapter 6

Little birds were twittering as a new day began. The warm sun shined through the bedroom of the stellar spirit mage. Lucy’s eyes slowly opened and adjusted to the sunlight shining through her window. She felt a familiar warmth pressed up against her and two arms wrapped protectively around her. She smiled tenderly as she placed her hands over his and turned her head to see a scene reminiscent of that night that started their whole relationship.

Lucy sat up in her bed, stretching and rubbing her shoulder. Her plaited hair, no longer clipped back but still intact, draped over her shoulder. She gazed down at his peacefully slumbering face, sleeping on his side and watching his muscular shoulder raise up and down as he steadily breathed. His pink hair was disheveled from sleep and, well, other things. She smiled and petted his soft fur like hair. The action caused Natsu’s eyes to suddenly open. He swiftly snatched the hand that was petting his head and pulled Lucy down to him, their faces inches apart.

“Good morning,” he purred, his voice low and smoky. He brushed the tip of his nose against hers affectionately. Lucy smiled, closing her eyes at the sweet action.

“I-I love you, too,” she stuttered. He stopped his ministrations and cracked one eye open.

“Hmm?” he replied. She moved to look at him better, her braid falling and tickling his chest.

“I never replied to you last night,” she said sheepishly, brushing her fingers against the scar on his neck. “I’m sorry…”

Natsu’s body shook with laughter. “Last night was your reply,” he jested, quickly rolling on top of her. His tone grew to a low growl. “How about I hear your reply again?”

Lucy’s face darkened to a deep red at his remark. “N-Na-Natsu, stop being indecent!”

“I’m not being indecent,” he hummed, kissing a sensitive part on her neck. “You are my girlfriend after all.”

Lucy’s eyes began to glaze over. Natsu had such an effect on her, she could barely take it. She only had just enough power and self-control to stop him.

“Come on, Na-Natsu, we have to g-get up,” she stammered. He loudly groaned an objection as he began sucking her neck. “Natsuuu~ seriously!”

“Maybe I don’t wanna,” he teased as he switched to the other side. This continued for several more minutes.

“Naaa-Natsu, please,” Lucy gasped. Natsu simply smiled against her neck, unrelenting in his sweet torture. Finally Lucy lifted her hand and twisted his ear.

“Ow, ow, ow!! Fuck!” Natsu sat up and Lucy quickly detangled herself from him.

“Seriously, Natsu! I need to go take a bath.” She started heading towards her bathroom, him tailing right behind her. “Don’t follow me!”

“Come on, Luce! At least let me wash your back, I promise I won’t try any funny business!”

Lucy sighed. “Do you promise, Natsu?”

“Yes, I promise.”

“Fine,” Lucy exhaled, walking into her bathroom, him following after her. Little did she know, Natsu had his fingers crossed behind his back. They never got to the guild until two hours later.

* * *

 

Lucy sat at the bar in the guild next to Levy who, as always, was reading a book. Levy was humming happily, a small smile playing across her lips. Lucy’s eyebrow arched at the scene before her. Levy was usually pretty upbeat, but she was acting downright giddy this morning.

“Levy-chan, how are you today?” Lucy inquired.

Immediately the book in Levy’s hands was slammed down onto the counter. “Lu-chan, I had the absolute best night of my entire life last night!!” she cried, grabbing Lucy by the shoulders. “It was the most fun I have ever had! We danced and talked and talked and laughed!”

“That’s great, Levy-chan!”

“And Lucy,” Levy began, a blush creeping across her face, “Gajeel k-kissed me!”

Lucy gasped. “Gajeel made a move on you?!” It was about time!

Levy nodded furiously. “Oh, Lu-chan, it was amazing! He picked me up and spun me!”

“Aww! That’s so sweet!”

Levy sighed happily. “Well, I had a good night. And I can tell that you did too.” She giggled.

Lucy gave a confused look, cocking her head to the side. “What do you mean?” It’s not like she saw her and Natsu with each other last night.

“Um…” Levy looked around and then leaned in close to her, “Lucy, you have kiss marks everywhere.”

Lucy blanched. “I-I-I-I have what?”

“You have hickeys all over yourself!” Levy whispered. Lucy screeched as she rushed into the girls’ bathroom of the guild. Lucy looked in the mirror in horror. There were little purple marks on her neck, collarbone, even her shoulders! She turned around only to find even a couple of more peppered about her upper back.

 _OH MY GOD_. Lucy’s mouth fell agape. Just how much did Natsu do? What was she going to do? She couldn’t let anyone else see her like this! _Oh god._ Cana. She had to get home. She couldn’t let Cana see her with kiss marks all over her! She’d never be able to live it down, not to mention that Cana wouldn’t leave her alone now until she spilled everything.

Lucy quickly ran out the door only to instantly run into something.

“Hey, Lucyyy. I drank waaay too much last night.” _Motherfucker._

Lucy put her hands up to her throat pretending she had an itch. “H-H-Hi, Cana! Is that so?”

“Yeah, I was having so much fun, but Laxus barged in half way and took my drinks! I don’t know what his problemmmmmy gOD, LUCY!!” Cana forced Lucy’s hands away from her throat and gasped. Cana’s face slowly morphed from horrified to shocked to smug in a matter of seconds.

Lucy pried herself from Cana’s grip and rushed back in front of the bar, Cana trailing quickly behind her. “You HAVE to tell me who it is now, Lucy! I’ve racked my brain as much as I could, but I can’t for the life of me figure out who it is!! And it’s _obvious_ that you were with him last night!”

“It’s no one, nothing! You don’t need to know!” Lucy cried.

“Pfft, I could tell you who it is.”

Lucy and Cana swung around to see the Iron Dragon Slayer sitting next to Levy at the bar. Lucy could feel the color draining from her face. _How the hell would_ he _know?!_ But one look at Levy told Lucy that they knew more than she knew.

Levy confessed. “I-I got dizzy last night, so Gajeel and I went out to the balcony to get fresh air when we… we saw you two.”

“You did?!” Cana yelled. “Who? Who is it? Who? WHO?! TELL ME!”

“This is gonna be interesting,” Mirajane said from behind the bar, setting down the cup she was cleaning and placing her elbows on the counter and her hands on her cheeks. Erza and Juvia both readied themselves for what they had been wanting to find out for weeks.

“Oh my god, guys, it’s not a big deal! Gajeel, please!” Lucy pleaded.

“No no no, Gajeel, tell us if you know who it is!” Cana whined. Just then Natsu walked in with Happy, waving to everyone with a “Yo!”

Gajeel laughed once and flicked his chin towards Natsu. Everyone fell silent for only a moment, but it felt like an eternity to Lucy. Suddenly Cana reached over and grabbed Natsu by his white scarf.

“ARE YOU GODDAMN SHITTING ME?!!” Cana screamed into his horrified face. “YOU MEAN TO TELL ME THAT THE GUY SHE’S BEEN DIDDLING IS NOT ONLY FROM OUR GUILD BUT THAT IT’S _YOU_?!!” Gray sitting nearby sputtered and spat out his drink.

“D-Diddle?!” Natsu stuttered.

“AND YOU DIDN’T EVEN TELL ANYONE? _WHAT KIND OF MAN ARE YOU, SALAMANDER?!!”_ Cana screamed in Natsu’s face and shook him by his scarf.

Lucy could die. She could just die right then and there. Everything happening around her was too much, she didn’t want everyone to find out this way! She was just feeling so dizzy and unwell at the entire situation. But it on a much larger scale than feeling dizzy with embarrassment. Why was that? She’d felt embarrassed tons of times before, but this felt different. She felt woozy and… Lucy’s eyes went black as she crumpled to the floor.

* * *

 

“…cy…”

“…ucy!”

“Lucy!”

Lucy slowly cracked her eyes open to find herself in the Fairy Tail infirmary. Natsu was close on her right sporting a very worried expression, Wendy to her left, and just about every other Fairy Tail member anywhere else. Why was she in the infirmary? Oh, right. She fainted at all the commotion of the entire guild finding out about her and Natsu. Her head hurt terribly.

“Are you okay, Luce?” Natsu asked her, worry seeping from his lungs. He grasped her hand in one of his, bringing it to his lips and kissing it as his other pushed her hair from her sweaty face.

“I… I guess so…” Lucy replied. “I don’t know what’s wrong though, I don’t know why I fell over.”

“Do you need anything?” Lisanna said from the end of the bed. “I could make you some hot tea or something?”

“No, no, don’t trouble yourself, Lisanna-san! I-I think I’m okay…”

She couldn’t really figure it out. Was it stress or something? Could it really have been stressing her out that she and Natsu hadn’t told anyone about them? Maybe it _was_ adding stress to her, like how it did with Natsu. Well, now it was out in the open, so there would be no more hiding it from everyone. They could act like a couple in front of everyone, Natsu could claim she was his to the entire world like he wanted to. Lucy tried smiling at the thought, but she just felt so weak for some reason.

“Lucy-san,” Wendy said to her, she, too, grasping her hand. She had a very concerned look on her face. “I… I have to tell you something. Something important.”

Lucy’s eyebrows creased at Wendy’s sudden seriousness. Was everything okay? Her eyes grew wide as the little Sky Dragon Slayer set a small hand over Lucy’s tummy.

“Lucy-san… you’re pregnant.”


	7. Chapter 7

“Lucy-san… you’re pregnant.”

Lucy stared straight through Wendy after she heard the statement. She could barely register what the little Dragon Slayer had said, her eyes went blank, her mind went blank, her mouth fell agape. She could barely say a single word.

She held her head in her hands. “Oh my god…” she whispered through her hands. “You’re completely sure, Wendy?”

“I-I’m afraid so, Lucy-san. I’m a healer. I am 100% positive you’re p-pregnant,” Wendy replied. Lucy grew silent once again, everything racing through her mind at mach ten. Fate was always cruel to her, something just always had to happen to Lucy Heartfilia. But this by far trumps anything that has ever happened to her in her entire lifetime. She was pregnant. She’d done it twice and already something this life changing had happened. That’s gotta be a new record.

“So… is Natsu the father?” Lucy heard Gray’s voice say.

“Idiot, of course it’s Salamander!” Gajeel barked. “Who the hell else could it be?”

“Well, I mean, come on, she’s-”

“Finish that sentence and I’ll burn you right through the cracks of the floor,” she heard Natsu growl. Natsu fell back into his chair pinching in between his eyebrows and sighed. “How did this happen?”

“That’s what happens when you have sex, dumbass,” Cana said matter-of-factly, placing her hands on her hips.

“Fuck off, Cana! I’m not a goddamn idiot!!”

“Well, you’re some sort of an idiot. How else did this happen?” Erza said curtly, crossing her arms. “You really should have been more careful.”

“I mean, did you guys even use protection?” Cana inquired. “Are all those glow in the dark condoms I gave Lucy just sitting around gathering dust? I was hoping she’d use them at least once!”

“If Natsu’s a man, he would!!” Elfman yelled out.

“Of course we did, but these things aren’t always-” Lucy grimaced at just what exactly was happening in front of her. “Oh my god, can I please just talk about this with my boyfriend _alone_?! This is kind of a private matter!”

“Well, I’m pretty sure everyon-”

“ ** _OUT,_** ” Lucy screeched. Everyone jumped and quickly shuffled out of the infirmary.

“I think she’s feeling better,” Happy murmured as he floated out. Natsu and Lucy were left in each other’s silent company. They simply looked at one another for a couple of quiet minutes. Their silence said enough, they didn’t need to talk, at least not for a little while. Lucy scooted over in the bed and patted the empty spot to her side. Natsu stood and slid in next to her under the blanket, wrapping his arms around her and tucking her head under his chin. She sighed and closed her eyes, inhaling his comforting, outdoorsy scent.

“We’re in a bit of a… scrape, huh?” Natsu whispered an eternity later. Lucy chuckled once, setting her forehead at the base of his neck.

“You could call it that,” Lucy mumbled. “I knew I shouldn’t have used a condom _Cana_ gave me.”

“She better hope she isn’t using the same ones because they’re obviously defective,” he huffed.

“I guess it just must have torn that first time,” Lucy concluded.

“Well, we were going pretty hard,” Natsu said.

“Natsu!” Lucy cried.

“You were screaming my name.”

“Stop!”

“I nearly crushed your headboard.”

“Natsu, shh!!” she hissed, clamping her hand over his mouth. “Do you realize that everyone is probably sitting outside of the door right now listening to us?” Natsu’s eyes grew wide as a deep red blush quickly spread across his face. An awkward ‘ahem’ could be heard from behind the door, confirming their suspicions.

“Srrhy,” he said through her hand. She took it away from his mouth and relaxed into the bed once more with a sigh.

“I…” Natsu mumbled a couple minutes later, “I-I’m not sure what I should be saying…”

“It’s alright, I’m not exactly sure either, actually,” Lucy confessed, running her finger over his red guild mark.

He shifted, hugging her tighter to his body. “Don’t get me wrong, it wasn’t like I was trying to get you puh-pregnant. It was an accident. And I know we’re young too and aren’t ready for this kind of drastic change. But I don’t… I don’t want you to, t-to…”

Lucy’s eyes grew wide at what he was trying to say. Her eyebrows knitted as she said, “Natsu, there’s no way I would do that, even if you wanted me to.”

“Oh thank god!” he exhaled, relief flooding his body. Lucy felt him swallow hard all of a sudden. “I need to say something to you.” Natsu shifted him and Lucy so that he was looking straight into her eyes. He licked his lips nervously before saying, “Even though I didn’t expect this until much longer down the road… there isn’t anybody else I would want carrying my child. There can be no one else. You are my life, my love, my only. And that will never change. I love you. I love you so much, Lucy.”

Lucy smiled. All of this was completely unplanned, and of course they weren’t going to know what they were doing most of the time. But hearing Natsu say all these things to her made Lucy realize something. The man before her was not just some guy. He was _her_ guy. Her best friend, her love, her Natsu. He’s the only one whose child she would carry inside of her. There could be no other. Only him.

“I know it’ll be hard at times, but we’ll get through this, I know we will,” he whispered to her. He placed a long, chaste kiss on her lips. “I mean, I’m stubborn ol’ Natsu, and you’re Lucky Lucy. We’ll get through it somehow. As long as we’re together, we’ll be fine.”

Warm tears she had been trying to hold in finally streamed over the bridge of her nose and down her right cheek, soaking the pillow.

“It’s okay, Luce,” Natsu murmured as he noticed her biting her lip to stifle the sob threatening to escape from her throat. “You can cry. You can cry for as long as you want. I won’t go anywhere.” He brushed her cheeks with his thumbs and kissed the tip of her nose as she sniffed and hiccupped. She buried her face into his scarf and sobbed, and sobbed and sobbed, wrapping her hands into his shirt. She later concluded it was her hormones already getting the best of her.

Natsu let her cry for as long as she needed to. There wasn’t any going back, not after this. And the two of them knew that. They were going to make it through somehow. But for now, Natsu just let her cry. This wasn’t going to be easy for her, Natsu was certain of that. But he was going to be there for her and the child she was carrying no matter what.

Eventually she wore herself out and fell asleep in his arms. Not wanting to disturb her, he snuggled a little closer to her and closed his eyes, allowing himself to rest as well.

* * *

 

The first time Lucy truly felt pregnant was at seven weeks. She could remember it vividly because she woke up and immediately ran to the toilet to vomit. Morning sickness. Lucy wasn’t stupid, she knows about the stages of pregnancy and she knows that morning sickness happens to most mothers to be. She just didn’t think it would be as bad as they say.

“Why do they call it morning sickness when I’m feeling sick at three o’clock in the afternoon?” Lucy said one day, laying her head on the cool countertop of the bar. Mirajane set down the mug she had been cleaning and began stroking Lucy’s hair. “That feels nice, Mira-san.”

“Is it making you feel better?” Mira asked, setting her other elbow on the counter and putting her cheek in her hand. “Maybe this should be a regular thing for you.”

“Actually, it kind of- URP!” Lucy shot up off of the barstool and ran for the lady’s restroom.

“Poor, Lu-chan,” Levy said sadly. “I wish we could make her feel better.”

Natsu came up and sat at the bar, gazing over at the two mages. “Is Lucy…?” The girls nodded. He sighed and set his chin on his hand. “I want to make her feel better. It’s my fault she’s like this anyways.”

“Natsu, you shouldn’t blame yourself,” the white haired mage said briskly. “It was an accident, it could have happened to anyone. Besides, it’s done, so you shouldn’t dwell on it.”

“I know…” Natsu sighed, hiding his face in his arms. Mirajane’s brows knitted up in worry. She could tell seeing Lucy sick all the time like this was breaking the dragon slayer’s heart. If only there _was_ something he could do.

Lucy appeared a couple minutes later, pale in the face and walking a little wobbly. She saw Natsu with his head on the table and set her hand on his shoulder. He quickly looked up at her.

“Are you okay?” she asked, placing her hand over his forehead. “Well, you’re no hotter than usual. Have you been—”

“Stop.”

“—drinking enough water and—”

“Lucy, stop!” he exclaimed, standing and pulling her into an embrace.

“—e-eating r-right..?” she said in a confused tone against his chest. Her arms stayed down at her sides, dazed and confused. “Wh-Why?”

Natsu exhaled. “Please… please don’t worry about me.”

“Natsu, of course I’m gonna—” Lucy started, but was quickly interrupted again.

“Don’t worry about me _right now_! You shouldn’t be distressing over whether or not I have a fever when you’re puking every hour, on the hour! Right now you need to worry about yourself, Lucy! You’re having a baby. Just… think about yourself for now, okay?”

Lucy was at a loss for words. She didn’t realize she was causing so much worry in Natsu. She felt horrible, and this time it wasn’t because of the morning sickness. She nodded her head as she wrapped her arms around his middle.

He sighed in relief. “Good.”

Natsu and Lucy were walking down the streets of Magnolia to go home, holding hands and talking like they usually do. Once at Lucy’s apartment, she stopped him from coming inside.

“But what if—” he started to say, but Lucy quickly stopped him with a finger to his mouth.

“Natsu, I’ll be fine, you need to go home! That’s what it’s there for, and Happy misses you, I know he does!” Lucy explained.

“I know, but—”

“But nothing, mister! I’ll be okay. I’ll be sure to call if something goes wrong, I promise.”

Natsu eyed her incredulously, but sighed in defeat when he knew she wasn’t going to budge. “Fine, fine, I’ll go home. But you call _immediately_ if you feel bad.”

“ _Immediately_ , I promise!” Lucy said with a giggle. Natsu exhaled and smiled warmly at her. He took her chin in her fingers and gently placed a kiss on her lips, pulling away after only a few seconds. Lucy stared up at him, her brown eyes glinting from the light of the street lamps.

“O-One more?” she murmured.

Natsu nodded once. “Y-Yeah, that’s fine.” He placed both his hands on the sides of her head and pulled her up once more, his lips laying perfectly over hers. They kept like that for a couple more minutes and then pulled apart, staring into his green eyes full of vigor.

“Just one more,” Lucy barely got the last word out when Natsu smashed his lips to hers. He pushed her up against her door, one arm wrapping around her shoulders and one laying heavily on her hips. His lips moved swiftly over hers, parting his lips to desperately deepen the kiss. Lucy’s choked moans were instantly swallowed by him because his lips didn’t leave hers for an eternity. His left hand moved up her thigh, lifting her leg in the process and squeezing the flesh under her skirt. Finally they parted for air, Lucy frantically gasping for oxygen as his lips moved to her neck, kissing and licking and sucking.

“Naatsuuu,” Lucy moaned. “We-we need to stop, we-we’re outside.”

“Huh-uh,” he murmured simply, and kept working on her neck and rubbing her backside. Lucy was panting heavily, her hands were tangled in his pink locks, she, too, not wanting to let go. But they had to. She simply hugged his head and he stopped and sighed, knowing that they _did_ have to stop.

He set his forehead to hers for a brief moment and then pulled her into a gentle embrace, stroking the hair falling down her back. Lucy cradled her head to his, allowing herself to be held by him. She could feel his heart hammering hard against his chest.

“I don’t know how you have this power over me,” he whispered. His hand laid palm flat to her stomach. There was already a tiny bump forming on her tummy. A person who didn’t know her very well wouldn’t have noticed it, but Natsu could definitely see it. And it was his baby in there.

He slowly stroked her tummy up and down as he looked into her eyes. “I guess I’ll go,” Natsu said. “But please be careful.”

“Of course I will,” Lucy said with a small smile. She reached up and planted a short peck on his lips. He sighed, pulling away and reluctantly walked home.

* * *

 

Lucy didn’t wake to birds like she used to. A terrible feeling in her gut and throat whirl winded her from her dreams and Lucy sat him straight in her bed before throwing her blankets off of her and rushing to the toilet. She returned to her bed a few minutes later and laid back down. That’s when her bedroom door opened.

Natsu walked through her door holding a tray in his hands. “Oh, you’re awake.”

Lucy sat up in her bed. “What are you doing here, Natsu?”

Natsu made a face at her question. “That’s kind of a dumb question, even if we weren’t going steady.” Lucy nodded her head to the side since he was right, he’s there constantly.

She pointed to the tray in his hand. “What’s that?” He blushed a little as a he strode over to her bed. He set the tray down and took some of her pillows to put behind her in order to make her more comfortable. Then he took the tray in his hands again and set it carefully over her.

Lucy peered at him as he worked, then looked down at what he set in front of her. “What is all this?” she asked him.

He gave a timid look as he pointed at each thing on the tray. “That’s whole-wheat toast with peanut butter, and, um, oatmeal with fruit. And then there’s ginger tea and orange juice, whichever one you want to drink.”

Lucy felt her chest swell and a smile appear on her face as she picked up the spoon next to the bowl. “Thank you for the food!” She slowly spooned the oatmeal into her mouth, careful not to try to upset her stomach. Suddenly she felt Natsu move the blankets at the foot of her bed, taking one of her feet in his hands. “What’re you doing?”

He began to gently massage her foot with his hands, and without looking up he said, “I heard that all these things can help ease morning sickness and is good for both the mother and baby.”

“Where did you find out about all this?” she inquired as she spooned some more oatmeal into her mouth.

He looked up at her sheepishly as he said, “I read it in a book. Well, books. Levy let me borrow them. I wanted to make you feel better. Is it working?”

Lucy gazed at him warmly. “Yeah…” her eyebrows raised. “Yeah. Yeah! Natsu, I don’t feel sick at all!”

Natsu gave his signature toothy grin. “That’s great! I’m glad you’re feeling better,” he said as he massaged the other foot. Then his face grew a little more serious. “You know… I could make you feel better every morning.”

“What do you mean?” she asked as she bit into the toast.

“Well,” a small blush played across his cheeks, “you could move in with me and Happy.”

Lucy dropped her toast and stared at Natsu. “Wha-wha-what—”

“Luce,” he said, carefully setting down her foot and sitting next to her on the bed. “We’re dating, we’re comfortable with each other, but it’s not only because of those. We’re having a child together.” He set his hand on her stomach. “If something were to happen to you or our baby, I… I don’t know what I’d do with myself.”

Lucy’s brows knitted up at his statement. “Natsu…”

“And that’s why you should move in with me. I could be there with you whenever you needed me, day and night, just in case something happened. And—”

Lucy stopped him and put her hand over his one that was still over her stomach. “You’re right.”

“I-I am? I am. I am right! So… so…” he murmured, wrapping her hand in his,” you’ll come live with me?”

Lucy simply responded with a nod.


	8. Chapter 8

Moving in with Natsu was the best decision Lucy had ever made. Natsu’s morning breakfast and massage routines helped so much that Lucy had only had morning sickness three times in the month she had been living with him. And it wasn’t simply the alleviation of her morning sickness. Living with Natsu and Happy made her much more content. Natsu would hug her from behind while she was making dinner, he would help her wash the dishes, Happy would cuddle with her during naptime, not to mention she could get kisses whenever she wanted. She would wake up every morning and realize with a smile where she was. And soon after moving in with the two, she found something that helped her calm her stress as well. Gardening. Lucy read up on everything on how to garden while pregnant, taking the necessary precautions such as wearing sunscreen, a sun hat, etcetera. And soon her little family would have all sorts of yummy food to eat.

Lucy’s garden was right near where their house was. She would garden for most of the day in the close vicinity of Natsu, who had been busy making their home more comfortable. He’d done a lot for only a month’s work, Natsu had already built on a bigger bathroom, a bedroom, a nicer kitchen, and two water closets. Now he was building a room for their baby. It brought a smile to her face to see Natsu working so hard for her and the baby’s sake. And this wasn’t just him taking care of her because it was his responsibility, it was much more than that. And every time Lucy thought about it, it caused her heart to flutter. Natsu and Happy were much more than her friends now. They were her family. What was happening was her family being made right before her very eyes.

She watched from her garden as Natsu hammered away at the roof. She couldn’t believe how good he was at building. Who knew he had built his house all by himself? Not only that, but he looked good, especially when working hard. His bare torso was hot and sweaty from working all day in the sun. Every once in a while he would push his pink locks from his slick forehead. She could barely believe she was carrying the offspring of someone so handsome. She hadn’t even seen him jump down from the roof when she realized he was waving his hand in front of her face.

“Luce? Are you okay?” Lucy, realizing she had been staring, began to blush. Natsu laughed and rubbed his hand on her sun hat. “You’ve been in the sun too long. It’s almost nighttime, why don’t we go inside and start making dinner?”

Lucy smiled from under her hat and nodded. “Okay,” she said, removing her gardening gloves and picking up her trowel. Natsu took her hand as they walked to the door.

“So what’s been growing?” he asked her as they walked into the house.

“Well, there’s cucumbers, peppers, tomatoes, carrots, I’ve even planted some strawberries and stuff! I hope you guys like how they test.”

“Everything will taste great because you’re the one who grew it,” he said, throwing an arm around her shoulder.

“Ewww, Natsu! You’re all sweaty!” Lucy cried, trying to push him away.

“What, you don’t like that?” he responded, clamping both arms around her and rubbing his face on her cheek.

“Yuck, yuck, ew! Stop!” she said both grimacing and giggling. “You need a bath.”

“You, too. You’ve been playing in the dirt all day!” the two laughed at they headed to the bathroom to get all the grime and sweat off of them before starting dinner. Like always, he stood behind her with his arms locked around her waist as he watched her make dinner for herself, him, and Happy. Lucy had to make sure she was eating the right foods now that she was pregnant, but she still always tried to make Natsu and Happy’s favorite foods for them. Fish for Happy and usually something involving meat for Natsu.

Even though they hadn’t been expecting Lucy getting pregnant, the pregnancy ignited a newfound responsibility in both Lucy and Natsu. Natsu would go on more day jobs with Happy in order to earn money and he worked hard on the construction of their house. He would always be looking out for Lucy, even more now. He’d even been talking about what they should get for the baby in terms of whether or not it would be a boy or a girl. He was already acting like a father. Lucy hadn’t really changed much, but she just found herself to be happier, especially after her morning sickness had been gone for a month. She began taking even better care of herself, not that she wasn’t before she got pregnant. They definitely hadn’t been expecting the pregnancy, but there was no way they were regretting it.

Everything became routine for them. Natsu would bring Lucy breakfast, Lucy would garden and Natsu would go on a job when he wasn’t building onto the house. Every night after dinner Lucy would wash the dishes, Natsu would dry them, and Happy would fly over to the cabinets Natsu built to put them away. And that’s what they were doing tonight. Some people might say to Lucy and Natsu that their life sounds boring. But they’d just smile and keep walking, knowing that that person was wrong.

Natsu and Lucy climbed into bed that night, both of them lying on their backs yet lying as close as they could to one another. After Lucy moved in, Natsu knew he had to eighty-six the old hammock and buy a bed, and soon after that he built an actual bedroom for the two of them. He even made a little bedroom for Happy, who had curled up into bed a little while before Natsu and Lucy did. Natsu kissed her forehead goodnight before squishing his cheek to the top of her head, yawning. His hand involuntarily went to her tummy and gave it a light rub, leaving it there as he drifted off to sleep. He did that every night, Lucy noticed him doing it right away. It was like his instincts were taking over. And it made Lucy the happiest girl in the world.

* * *

 

The guild was louder than it usually was, not that Lucy minded. It was just that everyone on this particular day really wanted to feel her tummy. It wasn’t like a lot of the women in the guild were pregnant. The last pregnancy in the guild was Bisca’s when she was pregnant with little Asuka, but that happened over six years prior.

“How far along are you now?” Levy asked as she ran her hand over the bump.

“I’m four and a half months pregnant now,” Lucy said with a smile.

“Wow! And you’re getting so big!” Levy instantly paled at her choice of words. “I mean, not big like _big_ , I mean you’re not—”

Levy stopped talking when Lucy began to laugh. “Oh, Levy-chan, it’s okay! I know I’m getting big, it’s not like there’s a pea in there, it’s a growing baby! I just can’t wait til I can have it.”

“You’re going to be such a good mom, Lu-chan.”

Lucy smiled warmly at the comment. She sure hoped she would be.

“Have you thought of any names yet, Lucy-san?” Lisanna said next to her, taking her turn to feel her growing tummy.

“Not yet, we’re not even sure if it’s a girl or a boy yet!”

“Personally, I don’t care what we have, as long as they’re healthy,” Lucy head a voice from behind her say. She turned around just in time to feel Natsu encircle his arms around her. She closed her eyes for the moment of being in his warm embrace, whimpering when he let go of her.

“I gotta get going,” he told her, pecking a kiss to her lips and dropping to his knees to press a kiss to Lucy’s tummy. She happily petted his head in response. As he stood up he said, “I’ll be back by dinner.” And with that, she watched as he ran out of the guild.

“I already miss him,” she thought to herself. At least, she thought she had thought it to herself. Levy and Lisanna gave a collective “Awww!!” and giggled as they watched Lucy’s face grow red.

“My, my, Lucy, look how much you’ve grown in just a few short months!” Lucy heard Master Makarov say next to her. “I can’t believe in just a few months, we’re going to have a little Natsu or little Lucy running around here.”

“I know, Master, I can barely believe it myself!” Lucy said with a smile.

“I just wanted to tell you how proud I am of you two,” he said to her.

“Why’s that?”

“Well, you two are young, and unfortunately young people tend to mess this up when an accident such as this happens,” he explained to her. “But you two… I have never seen such responsibility blossom in such a short amount of time. Natsu may still be a little immature, but he’s truly changed for the better. He’s grown into a man. And you helped him onto that path, Lucy. Finding you that day, the day before you joined Fairy Tail, was surely a day set by the fates. You two were destined to find each other, one way or another.” He gave a big smile after that, and then said, “I guess what I’m trying to say is that I’m very happy for you two!”

Tears threatened to spill over Lucy’s cheeks as she hopped off her barstool to give the Master a tight hug. “Thank you,” she replied with a sniff.

* * *

 

The next morning, Lucy awoke to the bed empty as usual. _Natsu must be making breakfast_ , she thought to herself with a yawn. She sat up and stretched, another yawn escaping her lips. She dropped her hand onto her head when she felt something hard hit it.

“Ow!” She said loudly. “What was that?” She looked up to the ceiling only to see nothing falling. She looked back down to see a glint of light on her hand. She looked closer only for her eyes to widen and a gasp escape from her.

A ring.

A beautiful golden ring with a bright blue diamond was placed on the ring finger of her left hand. Lucy breathed heavily and her heart hammered fast in her chest the longer she stared at it. Tears were already streaming down her face.

“Nats—” she began to say as she turned in the bed. A hand quickly and gently took her own and laced its fingers between hers. He was already next to her, and her tears fell even faster as she watched him slowly lower himself to one knee.

“Lucy Heartfilia,” he said, her sobs becoming audible, “we’ve been through so much together. We’ve saved each other so many times that I’ve lost count. You’re my best friend, my soul-mate, the mother of my unborn child,” he placed his other hand to her protruding belly. “You’re everything I ever wanted and more. There is no one else I want to spend the rest of my life with. I only want you by my side until the day I die. Lucy,” he barely whispered to her, looking into her beautiful brown eyes, “will you marry me?”

Lucy sniffed and smiled, taking a look at the ring on her finger again. “W-where did you get this?” she asked him quietly.

“I went to Hargeon to get it. They have a really nice jewelry store there,” he replied to her, rubbing it with his thumb. “And because it’s where I first met you… So… what’s your answer?”

Lucy pulled him into a warm embrace, cradling her head to his and whispered a loving, “Yes…”


	9. Chapter 9

“Twirl again, Lu-chan!” Levy asked excitedly, jumping up and down and making her blue dress bob around her shins. Lucy happily twirled for the umpteenth time, the white, lacy dress lifting into the air. The girls around her clapped and giggled as Lucy sat back down in her chair.

Today was the day. Today was the day she would become Mrs. Natsu Dragneel.

“I can’t believe this is all really happening to me,” she said quietly, a big smile appearing across her face.

“We’re so happy for you, Lucy,” Mirajane said, rubbing Lucy’s bare arm with her hand. “You, Natsu, and your little sweetie are going to be so happy.”

“Have you thought of any names yet, Lu-chan?” Lisanna asked while she patted Lucy’s tummy. Lisanna had gotten a lot closer with Lucy throughout the whole ordeal. She especially helped with the wedding plans, saying that she never had so much fun planning something before. Soon they started calling each other ‘Lu-chan’ and ‘Li-chan’.

“Not yet, we’re not sure if it’ll be a boy or a girl,” Lucy confessed. “But I think we’re just going to wait until they’re born to see who it is. I want it to be a surprise!”

“I don’t want to do that when I marry Gray-sama,” Juvia said. “I want to know right away!”

“I have some suggestions for names,” Mirajane told Lucy.

“Really? What are they?” Lucy asked.

“Well, for a girl, ‘Mira’, and for a boy, ‘Miro’.”

Lucy couldn’t help but laugh. “I’ll think about it, Mira-san.”

“I think ‘Cana’ for either one would be better.”

“Yeah, that’s not gonna fly,” said an irritated white haired mage.

“Are you nervous at all, Lucy?” Erza asked. “You haven’t gotten cold feet at all, have you?”

Lucy thought about it for a moment. “Has there been a moment where maybe I wished none of this was happening?” the girls nodded in response. Lucy smiled. “No. Not once. There is nothing in the world that could bring me down today. I actually wish the day would go faster so I can hurry up and say I do! I just wanna be Mrs. Dragneel.” Lucy rubbed her tummy as she confessed to her teary-eyed friends. They all got up and hugged Lucy tight.

The door opened, Evergreen appearing from behind it. “Lucy-san, it’s time.”

Heart pumping fast in her chest, Lucy stood, allowing her bridesmaids to slip out the door before her. She shrouded her face with her veil and with deep breath, she began her descent down the aisle.

* * *

 

Natsu watched as the groomsmen and bridesmaids strode down the aisle, two by two. Mira was smiling as big as her smile could go, her arm linked with Laxus’ who was trying to look as stoic as ever. Lisanna happily walked down the aisle with her brother, who beforehand talked about how he looked the manliest. Juvia had both arms wrapped tightly around Gray’s arm, snuggling her face into his sleeve and almost making him trip, but of course Gray tolerated it as best he could. Although Natsu thought for sure that Lyon’s head was going to explode from jealousy from the looks of it. Wendy, being the little cutie she is, walked hand in hand happily with Romeo. Erza and Jellal were the most elegant looking of the group. Cana looked like she was already drunk before the reception even began while Loke walked with her, looking like he was going to start bawling. Gajeel was trying not to blush at having the small Maid-of-Honor on his arm, Levy looking happy as ever. Little Asuka skipped down the aisle throwing flower petals about while Alzack squealed from the pews and Happy flew up after her holding the rings on a pillow.

And then there she was.

Natsu’s breath hitched in his throat when he saw her. It was as if she were coming down the aisle in slow motion. Her dress barreling behind her, her white veil laying over her face perfectly. Suddenly he saw it all. Lucy making dinner, little children running up to her and squeezing the fabric of her apron in their tiny hands. Natsu coming up behind her and giving her a big, wet kiss on the mouth causing the children to grimace and run away. He could see it, he could almost grasp it in his hands. Strolling elegantly down the aisle was his future, his wife and his child.

Natsu held his hand out to Lucy as she came closer to him. She grasped her hand in his, smiling warmly beneath her veil as the Master began the ceremony.

“Dearly beloved, we are gathered here today to witness the union of Natsu Dragneel and Lucy Heartfilia. We all—”

Lucy suddenly gasped, her hand moving over her mouth. Natsu peered at her inquiringly from the side. “Luce? Are you okay?”

Lucy mumbled words that were incoherent, Natsu only hearing ‘icked’. “What was that?” he asked.

“The baby kicked.”

“Huh?”

“The baby kicked, Natsu!” she said a little louder.

“The baby kicked?!!” Natsu said loudly. Suddenly every member of the guild and other guilds were scrambling to the back of the church, eager to try to feel the baby kicking in Lucy’s tummy.

“Whoa, whoa! I am the daddy, I get to feel it first!!” Natsu bellowed. He quickly got down on his knees, holding Lucy’s hips in his hands and gently pressed his cheek to Lucy’s tummy. For a few seconds he didn’t feel anything, thinking that maybe the baby had settled back down, but then he felt a tiny push against his cheek. And that’s what did it. A lump swiftly formed in the dragon slayer’s throat as tears streamed down his face. His arms wrapped tightly around her backside, rubbing her tummy with his cheek as a few sobs escaped from him. Lucy chuckled as tears fell from her eyes, softly petting Natsu’s hair. Their guests simply looked at the couple patiently and happily. Natsu finally stood up after a few minutes and, not caring about tradition, flung Lucy’s veil over the top of her head and pressed his lips firmly to hers.

It took about a minute after Natsu leaned his forehead against Lucy’s to realize that the wedding ceremony was still going on and everyone was staring at them. The two blushed but were not in the least bit embarrassed.

“Let’s get on with the ceremony, shall we? We’ll try to make it quick so everyone can feel Lucy’s tummy. Also I call feeling it next,” said Master Makarov.

Levy pouted. “Shouldn’t the Maid-of-Honor get second dibs?”

“I think anyone that starts with a ‘C’ and ends in ‘ana’ should be next.”

“ONLY A TRUE MAN SHOULD—”

“Shut up, ya damn brats!” the Master yelled. He cleared his throat and said, “Now where was I? Okay! Natsu, do you take Lucy to be your lawful wedded wife, in sickness and in health, until death do you part?”

His arms were still wrapped tight around Lucy, his forehead still leaning against hers. “Of course I do,” he said softly, rubbing his nose tenderly against hers.

“And do you, Lucy, take Natsu as your lawful wedded husband, to have and to hold, until death do you part?”

“I do,” she whispered, the corners of her cheek never falling down.

“Happy, the rings.” Happy floated over, carefully handing the golden rings to both Natsu and Lucy, afraid that he might drop them and cause a fiasco.

Natsu delicately took Lucy’s left hand in his and slowly slipped the ring onto her finger. “With this ring, I shall forever be yours.”

Pink spread across her cheeks as Lucy did the same with Natsu. “With this ring, we shall be together always.”

With a smile, Master Makarov finally said, “I now pronounce you husband and wife. Now kiss her again, ya brat.”

And with that, Natsu pressed his lips to Lucy’s once more, dipping her low and never letting go.

* * *

 

If one thought that the wedding ceremony was crazy, they wouldn’t believe the wedding reception. It was held at the Fairy Tail guild after all. When Natsu and Lucy finally made their appearance, as was tradition for the couple to come to the reception last, everyone cheered and clapped and cheered some more. And then the real party started.

A bunch of people lined up to see if they could feel the baby moving inside of Lucy, but out of everyone that wanted to feel it, Levy was the only one besides Natsu to actually feel the baby kick again. Levy thought for sure that it was fate. Cana, who felt betrayed, drank til dawn with Bacchus again.

It was Lucy’s night to shine, but Juvia definitely was going to get Gray’s attention no matter the cost. She had her pretty blue bridesmaid dress on that matched her hair perfectly and she looked fabulous. There was no way Gray was not going to notice her.

But life never works out well for poor Juvia.

“Gray-sama~~!” she squealed. Every time she said his name, something got in the way. The first time it was because Gray was talking to the bride and groom, and Juvia didn’t want to be rude. It was their wedding after all! And the second time Juvia was caught by Wendy who wanted to ask about a good way to get Romeo to dance with her. After the third, fourth, fifth, sixth, and seventh time, Juvia almost gave up.

 _But that just isn’t like Juvia!!_ she thought to herself with a determined look on her face. _Juvia will get Gray-sama’s attention!!_

Juvia ran around the guild looking for Gray when she finally spotted him talking to Lyon. She didn’t care that he was talking to someone, she was going to get his attention some way or another!

“Gray-samaaa~~!!” she shrieked, holding her arms out in front of her. However she missed a step and tripped over her heel, causing herself to push Lyon and sending him right onto Gray.

Also she accidentally caused the two to lip-lock for about three seconds. _A/N:_

The two ice mages blanched and immediately pulled away from one another.

“Aw, sick! AAUUGHGHGDGGFFS!” Gray sputtered and held his throat.

“WATER!” Lyon screeched, heading in the other direction. “WATER! _I NEED WATER!”_

Needless to say, Juvia _did_ get some attention from Gray that night. But getting yelled at about accidentally pushing a guy on him wasn’t the attention she was hoping for.

* * *

 

“Everyone! It’s time for the bouquet and garter toss!” Lucy said excitedly. All of the girls quickly gathered around in front of the steps Lucy was standing on. She was no longer really embarrassed from the way Natsu licked up her leg in front of everyone in order to get the garter off her. She would be really pissed, but it wasn’t like they could do much on their wedding night since she has a bun in the oven. He was definitely going to get a smack for it later on though. She steadied herself, making sure she couldn’t see who was directly behind her, and tossed the bouquet over her head.

“JUVIA MUST GET IT!” she heard a certain water mage bellow, but it wasn’t Juvia who caught the bouquet, oh no. It was a certain blue haired solid-script mage that caught the bouquet. And said blue haired solid-script mage was blushing extremely hard.

Lucy clapped and said, “Congratulations, Levy-chan!! Okay, Natsu, it’s your turn to toss the garter.”

Everyone looked around when they heard a loud clear of the throat resonate from Gajeel. He lowered his head a bit around all of the men and said with a low growl, “If _any_ of you fuckers try to catch that garter, I promise you no one will be able to recognize your bodies, do I make myself absolutely goddamn clear?”

Every one of the men’s faces paled at Gajeel’s remark. Natsu readied himself and tossed the garter over him. Once Natsu tossed it, all of the men took one giant step to the side, giving Gajeel all the room to easily snatch the piece of fabric from the air. Jet and Droy gazed on sadly from the sides.

Levy went red in the face once again as she sat in the chair near the steps. However, the sexy music stopped just as fast as it started as Gajeel quickly and wordlessly slid the piece of fabric up Levy’s right leg. He definitely didn’t want to make a huge scene, both for his sake and the little script mage’s.

He let out a deep breath as his took Levy’s hand and helped her to her feet. “Wanna dance?” he asked. Levy smiled, happy that he didn’t prolong the garter situation like most men would have, and nodded. Their dance was not like the one at the Fairy Ball though, this time Gajeel asked Levy to dance while a slow song was playing. He took her hand in his and set his large hand on her little hip. It was a little awkward due to their height difference and she couldn’t really comfortably set her hand on his shoulder, so she settled for setting her hand on the back of his upper bicep and relaxed her head on his chest. Butterflies resonated in her stomach when she felt his hand move from her hip to the small of her back and his cheek rest on the top of her head. And she could have sworn she heard a content sigh escape from him a second later. She snuggled her face further into his chest, listening to his heartbeat and closing her eyes.

“I’m in love with you, Levy.”

Levy’s eyes ripped open the moment she heard it. She lifted her head to look at him. His cheeks were stained red and his crimson eyes looked down. She shakily placed her hands on his cheeks, causing him to finally look into her eyes. His heartbeat quickened and he swallowed hard. He was absolutely serious.

“S… say it again…” Levy whispered a couple seconds later. Gajeel stared straight into her eyes as he swallowed hard once again and licked his lips.

“I-I love you,” he said in a low yet sweet tone. Levy jumped onto him, her arms wrapping tightly around his neck. Her tears stained his suit jacket as she sobbed. His arms enclosed strongly around her waist as he lifted her into the air. Thinking that maybe doing this in the middle of the dance floor and in front of everyone else was probably not the best place, Gajeel hooked one of his arms under her knees and carried her to one of the empty halls of the guild.

When they were finally alone he set her on her feet yet still did not leave each other’s embrace. Finally Levy moved her face from his shoulder, accidentally brushing her lips against his in doing so. Gajeel licked his lips as he pressed them firmly to hers, pushing her against the wall behind her in the process. His hands, never being able to stay put on the wall on either side of her, roamed up and down her sides as his tongue swept across her bottom lip. Levy gasped and Gajeel, seizing the opportunity, pushed his tongue past her lips, fervently wanting to taste every bit of her. Her hands rubbed his biceps as the two continued their relentless passion in each other’s arms. Little moans and squeaks escaped Levy’s lips as Gajeel kissed and licked her slender neck. Suddenly his hands lifted her, her body pressed hard between his and the wall. She could feel his calloused hands squeezing the flesh of her thighs and above, eliciting whimpers from her throat. He grunted hard as the two involuntarily grinded against one another.

“We… we sh-should stoppp…” he uttered, a low, sexy groan erupting from the back of his throat as she squeezed her thighs around his hips.

“Y-y-y-y-you’re probably ruh… right,” Levy panted, swallowing hard. Gajeel pressed his forehead to hers, breathing steadily and trying to calm himself down. Lifting her up against the wall probably wasn’t the best idea. He carefully set her down and looked into her beautiful eyes. His thumb rubbed lazily under her eye before pressing a soft, chaste kiss to her swollen lips.

“I love you so very much,” he said quietly.

Levy smiled as she lightly touched his Fairy Tail tattoo on his arm. “I love you, too.”

* * *

 

Natsu led Lucy to the dance floor to finally have their first dance as husband and wife. He took her hand in his, his other settling softly on her hips, and Lucy placing her other hand on his shoulder. The two began to sway to the song with the wonderful lyrics, relishing in each other’s loving hold.

As other couples guided themselves to the dance floor as well, Natsu’s arm wrapped itself around her upper back, his hand holding her shoulder, the other letting go of her hand and wrapping tight around the small of her back. Lucy’s hands simply rested on his chest, her head on his shoulder, loving the way he was holding her.

 _“I will never stop trying, I will never stop watching as you leave,”_ he quietly sang the lyrics of the song softly into her ear, goose bumps forming along her arms, _“I will never stop losing my breath every time I see you lookin’ back at me.”_

His soft singing was causing Lucy to fall even more in love with him, if that was even possible. His warm breath on her ear had her in absolute shambles, and he knew what whispering in her ear did to her. But it wasn’t like that this time. His hushed singing was simply him showing his love to her, on this day, on the day of their wedding. Honestly he didn’t even know he was doing it until he realized it himself, but that didn’t make him stop.

 _“I will never stop holding your hand, I will never stop opening your door. I will never stop choosing you, babe,”_ his grip on her suddenly tightened. _“I will never get used to you.”_ Lucy wasn’t sure, but she could have sworn she felt him quivering as he held her tight in his arms. A soft kiss to his lips and a soft kiss back told one another that they would be together forever.


	10. Chapter 10

“Lu-chan, your baby is going to be due in a couple of months, right?” Levy asked her one day.

“Yup, less than three months about,” Lucy answered with a smile, nonchalantly rubbing her belly. She couldn’t believe that she was really going to have a little baby soon.

“You’re not scared at all?” Levy questioned, tilting her head to the side. “Aren’t you afraid it’s gonna hurt?”

“Maybe a little bit,” Lucy confessed.

“But Lucy’s tough, just like me! And I’ll be right there next to her,” Natsu said, who was snuggled up behind Lucy with his head on her shoulder. Levy stared straight through him, her lips pressing together as she draped her arm over her knee.

“Natsu, have you even left Lucy’s side since the wedding?” she asked, leaning forward as she spoke.

“Of course I’ve left her side since then!” Natsu exclaimed indignantly. “I’m not a psycho!”

“Oh, please, Natsu,” Erza retorted, sticking a fork into her cake. “You couldn’t go one afternoon without being next to Lucy.”

“I can so, _Erza_!” Natsu spat, emphasizing Erza’s name with fire. Cana laughed next to Levy, slamming her mug down with gusto.

“Alright, fine, your afternoon away from Lucy starts now. Get out,” she hollered, jabbing her thumb at the door. Natsu’s eyes widened, picking his head off of Lucy’s shoulder in shock.

“Wha, wait, right now? W-Why?”

“Because we’re throwing a baby shower for Lucy.” Lucy clapped her hands together in delight as she looked around at all her friends. “You’re tough, you can get through it.”

“You’re throwing me a party?” she asked excitedly.

“That’s right, and _men aren’t invited!_ ” Cana mocked, sticking her tongue out and pulling her lower eyelid down.

“Wait, that’s not fair! I’m the father, shouldn’t I be invited?”

The girls touched their index fingers to their chins in a sarcastic way, fake thinking before they all collectively said, “ _NO._ ”

Natsu’s lips pressed together in irritation. Lucy glanced towards him in sympathy, setting her hand on his cheek and placing a soft kiss to the other. “It’s okay. It’s only for one afternoon,” she told him quietly. “Take some time with Happy, go fishing and have some you time, I don’t mind.”

Natsu’s green eyes pleaded with her to come up with an excuse, but he knew there was no relenting on Lucy’s part. And it had been a while since Natsu and Happy went fishing. “Okay,” he sighed after a couple minutes and standing up from the barstool. He took her chin in his hand and pulled her towards him, placing a long kiss on her lips. “I’ll miss you…” he whispered, eyes downcast and a small blush creeping across his cheeks. He rubbed her tummy softly before turning and heading out of the guild.

“I. AM. SO. JEALOUS,” Cana cried, squishing Lucy’s cheeks under her palms. “You getting knocked up was the best thing that ever happened to you!”

“Wha, don’t refer to my pregnancy that way!”

“I’m kidding, I’m kidding, don’t get your panties in a twist!” Cana laughed, carefully pulling Lucy to her feet. “Alright, everyone will be here any minute, so let’s get to the next room. Everything is already set up!”

Lucy was lead to the smaller room next to the main hall they used for small parties (because it’s Fairy Tail and they need an extra party room) to see it clad in pinks and blues and tiny bottles and binkies. Lucy’s lips curled into a warm smile as she scanned the room, her eyes finally falling upon her friends standing behind her.

“You guys did all of this for me?” Cana rubbed Lucy’s hair affectionately as the girls pulled her into a group hug, Juvia nuzzling her face to Lucy’s cheek.

One by one, Lucy’s girlfriends walked into the party room, setting their gifts on the table and coming over to feel Lucy’s big tummy. When it came time to opening gifts, Lucy made sure to go through them one by one and thank the person who gave it to her.

“Oh, this one is from Flare,” Levy told her as she handed the gift over.

“A hair brush, how nice!” Lucy exclaimed.

“I-I-I hope you like it, Blondie,” Flare stuttered, a red blush creeping across her cheeks. “I-It’s a special brush that easily removes tangles from even the messiest hair…”

“Oh, wow! I’ll probably be using that on Natsu even more than our kid!” Lucy giggled. “Thank you!”

“Juvia’s next, Juvia’s next!!” Juvia cried happily, bouncing up and down in her seat. Levy handed the gift over with a smile. Lucy carefully tore the wrapping paper away and marveled at what sat before her. Two little button-eye dolls, carefully hand stitched lay in Lucy’s hands. One had spiky pink hair and the other’s soft and blonde.

“… Are these Natsu and me?”

Juvia fidgeted in her seat, looking down at her fingers. “I know they are not really of much use for the baby, but I know you said you liked dolls and the first thing that popped into my head was to make you something, so—”

“You mean you made these?” Lucy questioned, a glimmer of light shining into her eyes.

“Y-Yes… Do you like them?”

“Do I like them?” Lucy repeated the question, throwing her arms around Juvia. “I love them, Juvia-chan!! Oh my gosh, they are definitely going onto a special shelf at home, these are so wonderful!!” Lucy carefully sat them on the table, beaming at everyone else. The rest of the girls giggled at her happiness.

“You’re so cute, Lu-chan!”

A little while had passed and the girls talked and laughed with each other, telling stories back and forth to one another. They all got on the topic of their first love, although they did not know how it started in the first place.

“I remember being especially fond of the cute librarian I’d see whenever I visited the library,” Levy confessed. “He was, like, seventeen years older than me, but he was so sweet! He always helped me find books.”

“My first love was Robert Green,” Cana said, smiling and setting her chin in her hand. “He was the first person to get me liquor when I was underage. He had the softest blonde hair, and the plumpest frickin’ ass. Heard he robbed a liquor store a few months back.” She closed her eyes in content thought. “ _Sigh_ , Robbie.”

“Gray-sama!! Gray-sama is my first and only love!!”

“Who was your first love, Erza?” Lucy asked inquisitively.

“We all know who Erza’s first love is!” Mira snickered, covering her mouth and wiggling her finger toward Erza.

“I-It is not Jellal!!” Erza cried, dropping her fork on her plate.

“Wha, well, well, I was gonna say strawberry shortcake!” Mira knew exactly what she was doing, and the red blush quickly making its way to Erza’s face said that whatever she was doing was working.

“What about you, Lucy-chan?” Lisanna asked her. Suddenly everyone’s eyes were on Lucy. Lucy simply looked back at them all, absently running her hand softly over her tummy.

“Well?”

“There isn’t really much to say,” Lucy confessed. “I’ve only ever been in love once, so…”

“Well, who was that?” Cana asked. Nobody answered her.

When Lucy was about to inform her, Levy stopped her with, “Give her a minute.”

A couple seconds passed when Cana gasped and said, “Riiiight, Natsu.”

After a laugh from the rest of the girls as Cana downed a drink to cover her embarrassment, Lucy touched her finger to her chin. “You know, there might be one, from when I was really little.”

“What, like, eleven?” Levy asked.

“No, I mean when I was little!” Lucy told everyone. “I remember now! I was five years old, my mother had begged my father to take me on one of his business day trips to spend time with me…”

* * *

 

“Daddy, look at me!” said five-year-old Lucy, who was trying to get her father’s attention. Jude Heartfilia was sitting with a potential business partner talking about boring things that Lucy didn’t understand. “Daddy, lookie, I can do almost a whole cart wheel!” Lucy set her hands on the grass and did what looked more like a somersault than a cart wheel, but at that moment she was the proudest little girl on the planet. “Didja see, Daddy, didja see?”

Lucy’s father never took his eyes off of the other stuffy looking man in a suit. “Very good, Lucy.” Lucy walked up to her father, looking at him, looking at the stuffy man, looking at him, picking a blueberry off her father’s plate.

Finally Lucy tugged her father’s suit with her little fingers and asked, “Daddy, are we gonna ride the train again?”

“Please excuse me for a moment, Mr. Rosslie. Lucy,” Jude said sternly, picking her tiny hand from his coat, “I am trying to work, do not interrupt me again. Go play over there until I am finished.”

Lucy’s happy face slowly fell as her father turned back to the stuffy man. She sniffed and picked up her doll she had sat delicately by her father’s chair, walking over to the flowerbed next to where all the stuffy adults were having high tea. Lucy sighed and stared down at her doll. Her mama made her father take Lucy on his business trip so he could spend more time with her, but he hadn’t paid any attention to her for the entire trip.

Lucy gasped as a butterfly landed on the face of her doll. It was a beautiful butterfly, with pretty patterns of blues and purples and pinks all over it. It was probably the most beautiful butterfly Lucy had ever seen in her life! Suddenly it flew off her doll, but Lucy wanted to look at it longer. Running off in the direction the butterfly was flying, Lucy rushed past the white fence of the garden in hopes of catching the pretty little bug. She ran past tall, pretty ladies and short, chubby men, past street vendors, houses, and shops, all the while laughing and skipping since this was the most fun she had all day. Lucy finally stopped as the butterfly flew around her head, holding out her hand and squealing when the butterfly landed on her index finger. After a couple minutes of gazing at the butterfly, Lucy lifted her finger and let it go.

Lucy looked around, her smile slowly fading as she realized that she was nowhere near the garden with all the stuffy people. “D… Daddy?” Lucy said. “Daddy?” she called a little louder, walking down one of the crowded streets. Which way did she come from? Was it that way? Or that way? “D-Daddy?!” Lucy shouted, heavy tears falling down her red cheeks. “Daddy!! Daddy, where are you?!” Lucy wept, smearing her face with wet tears, sniffing and hiccupping as she looked at the unfamiliar surroundings.

“Hey, are you okay?” Lucy felt a hand on her shoulder. She gasped, looking up to see a pink haired boy with green eyes staring down at her. “Are you lost?” he asked when she didn’t answer him.

Lucy sniffed as more tears began sliding down her cheeks. “I can’t find my daddy!!” she cried.

“Wah, hey, it’s okay!! Don’t cry, please don’t cry!” he pleaded. He got down on his knees, looking up at her, his eyes wild. “Here, you can hit me! Will that make you feel better? It’s okay, I won’t be mad!”

Lucy sniffed and looked down at him for a moment. “Your hair is pink…”

An offended look passed over the boy’s face. “My hair isn’t pink, it’s lightish red!”

“Hee hee,” Lucy giggled, wiping her nose. “You’re funny!” The boy smiled a big toothy grin when she giggled. He stood up and took her hand in his.

“Do you remember where your daddy is?” the boy asked Lucy, looking around them for a sign of her father. “I’ll help you find him!”

“He’s… he’s next to a big building, um… drinking tea with boring people in suits…”

“Hmm, okay,” the boy said, pulling Lucy along with him. “I think I saw some people like that down this way. So, how did you get so far away from your dad anyways?”

“Well, I was doing some cart wheels, but Daddy told me he was busy, but then I saw the most beautifullest butterfly I ever saw!!”

“Wow, I bet it was really pretty, huh?”

“It was purple and blue and pink! A lotta pink, like your hair!” The boy laughed this time instead of being offended, speeding up when he saw stuffy looking guys in suits.

“Hey, are one of those guys your dad?”

“Uh-uh,” Lucy told him as they kept walking. “They were in a garden drinking tea, but they weren’t paying attention to anything but their work!”

“That’s too bad, they must be pretty boring!”

“Yeah, they are! And not fun at all! I was doing cart wheels and everything, but Daddy still wouldn’t look back at me!”

“Well I bet you were doing great cart wheels! Those guys are really missing out!”

“I know!” Lucy squeezed his hand and smiled up at him. “You’re really nice, you know? I don’t get to talk to other kids. This is probably the longest time I have ever talked to another kid before!

The boy’s face reddened as a half-smile spread up to his eye. “I’m glad you’re happy. You’re really nice, too! Hey, is that your dad over there?”

Lucy looked up to see the same garden she had chased the butterfly out of and squealed. “Yes, that’s it, that’s it!! Come on, come on!” she exclaimed, pulling the boy with her. “I bet Daddy missed me a whole bunch!”

Lucy pulled him along through the entrance to the garden to see her father, who was still conversing with the other stuffy looking man in a suit. “Daddy, Daddy!” Lucy said, tugging on his suit sleeve.

“I said not now, Lucy!” her father said through gritted teeth before turning back to his colleague. Lucy’s lower lip quivered as she stepped back, holding onto the boy’s sleeve as her tears spilled over once again.

“He… *hic* He didn’t even notice I was gone…” Lucy squeaked.

“Hey, it’s okay! Don’t cry, okay?” he said, gently rubbing his hand on her head.

“Why don’t we take this inside to sign the papers, Mr. Heartfilia?” the stuffy man said to Lucy’s father. Suddenly her father grabbed her hand and began to pull her into the building next door. Lucy looked back at the pink haired boy, wiping her nose as her father pulled her along, shyly waving goodbye.

“You drive a hard bargain, Mr. Heartfilia,” the stuffy man said as he led them through the halls. “I was almost going to decline your offer, but you really talked me into it.”

“I’m very pleased to hear that, Mr. Rosslie. And I must say, this country club you’ve built is very lovely.”

“This place is my pride and joy, Mr. Heartfilia,” the man said. “It is quite—” a sudden crackle and thump was heard “— Did you hear that?”

The crackle and thump turned into a loud snap and suddenly the ceiling crumpled above them! Out from under the rubble, a boy with pink hair sat up, rubbing his head and dusting himself off. “Ouch! That really hurt!”

“You—!” the stuffy man started to say, his face turning purple. “Look at what you’ve done to my building, you dirty little bastard!”

Lucy would have been scared out of her mind, but the pink haired boy paid no attention to the purple faced stuffy man. He saw Lucy and his face instantly lit up. “There you are!” he hurried over to her, smiling his big toothy grin. “The guards wouldn’t let me in, so I crawled into the vents!”

“Do you know this boy, Mr. Heartflilia?!” the stuffy man bellowed.

Lucy’s father stuttered, pulling on the collar of his suit anxiously. “Of-Of course I don’t!”

The moment the boy got to Lucy, he reached behind him into his backpack and pulled something out of it. “Here,” he said to her. The object in his hand turned out to be the doll she was carrying with her all day. “You dropped this when we got back to the garden.”

“You little brat! Guards, get in here and get him out of my sight! Mr. Heartfilia, the deal is off! Please leave!”

Jude Heartfilia’s face turned red as he looked down at his daughter, roughly taking her hand and storming back down the hallway. Lucy wrenched herself from her father’s grip and ran to the boy before the guards could take him away, throwing her arms around him and pecking his cheek with a kiss. “Thank you, Mr. Lightish-Red!”

* * *

 

“… My father was so angry that day, he told me that I was never to see that boy again,” Lucy told the girls, who were entirely enthralled in Lucy’s story. “And I didn’t. I never saw that boy again. Probably because my father never took me on any more of his trips with him, no matter how much my mother begged. I can’t believe I forgot about it until now.”

Erza looked like she was going to cry. She had always been a sap for cute stories. “That’s the best story I’ve ever heard, Lucy!” All of the girls agreed collectively when suddenly the ceiling crumbled above them. Lucy’s eyes grew wide.

“Ouch!”

“Ow!! Ow Ow!!”

“Natsu!” Cana cried. “Happy! What the hell are you two idiots doing?”

Natsu stood up, dusting himself off as he quickly tried to make up a reason for being in the ceiling above the room that just so happened to be hosting Lucy’s baby shower. “Uh, well… you see, I… uhhh… Well, I shouldn’t have to have a reason, I’m the husband, she’s my wife! I love her, so what if I wanna be by her a lot? Isn’t that a good thing?”

Lucy stood up as fast as she could, despite her large tummy making it difficult, and wrapped her arms around Natsu’s waist, burying her face in his scarf. “Hey, what’s wrong, Luce?” Natsu asked. “Did you miss me that much?”

“Yeah,” Lucy whispered, biting back a sob. “I missed you a whole bunch.”


	11. Chapter 11

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I will be COMPLETELY HONEST. I kinda hated this chapter. At the time. I was suffering from severe writer's block and one of my friends suggested that Gray being an ass be the reason for Natsu's hot feet with Lucy, so I went with it.... Just wanted to get the chapter out at the time, but since I haven't had much motivation in terms of Fairy Tail fan fiction, I never revised it. Once I FINALLY want to finish this story, I will definitely revise this to just make Gray have a little crush on Lucy, since I actually like Gray.. Anyways, sorry for the Gray abuse, poor boy, I love ya, Gray.

I've experienced a lot of heartache and disappointments in my life. My dad disappeared on me at a young age, in the guild I joined, I was surrounded by family yet still felt alone, I lost my closest friend in the guild, and the cheesesteak sandwiches down the street are not, as the sign says, "The Best in Town!". But there's one thing that has never brought me disappointment, sadness, or heartache.

And her name is Lucy.

I don't know where I'd be right now if it weren't for Lucy. I may not have connected with my friends in the guild, or known that the best cheesesteak sandwiches in town are made in her very own kitchen. I certainly wouldn't have a little baby on the way without her, though that is partly my fault. But I knew I'd have to tell her someday, what started our whole relationship in the first place.

Why I kissed her that night.

"Why do you need to know that, I mean does it really matter?" I chuckled dryly as I sat at the other end of our dining room table, she in the seat adjacent to me, absent-mindedly rubbing her belly. She raised an eyebrow at me.

"Of course it matters, Natsu," she told me, "it's why everything started. This," she pointed to her stomach, "literally resulted from you kissing me that night."

"I dunno, Luce, it's just that..." I trailed off, lowering my head.

"Just... what?" she inquired, lowering her head as well to look at my face.

"It's just... embarrassing is all."

"Oh," she said quietly. "I-I get it then. It's okay, you don't have to tell me." She leaned back in her chair, looking down and running a strand of hair through her fingers. She had the cutest little face on, her chocolately brown eyes were big, her eyebrows scrunched up a little, and her pink lips jutted forward just a little bit. That pretty little sneak.

"Alright," I sighed, "I'll tell you."

"Really?" she smiled. "Thank you, Natsu!"

"But only because I love you," I said, standing up and helping her to her feet, heading toward the living room. "And please don't tell anyone, okay?"

* * *

 

**Eight Months ago...**

I was sitting on a bench at one of the tables silently sipping fire whiskey from a big mug, Happy curled up sleeping next to me. It was kind of a dreary day, it had been raining since the early morning, so there hadn't been all that much to do. Cana was at the bar, happily conversing with Mirajane as she wiped down the counter and Elfman was busy talking about being a man to Lisanna with his hand sitting dangerously close to Evergreen's hand on the bench they were sitting at. I could see Juvia standing behind the pillar not far from me staring at Gray, who was sitting across from me flipping through a magazine about giant ice sculptures.

"I can't believe there are people who can carve the ice with their own hands like that," he said incredulously, quickly flipping to the next page. I squinted my eyes at him.

"You mean you can't carve ice without magic?" I asked. "What kind of ice mage are you?"

"Shut the fuck up, artard," he barked, slamming the magazine shut. "I don't need your commentary, you can't even be near ice."

"Don't talk to me then if you don't want a response, you waterlogged piece of bullshi-"

"Shh, shut up, Lucy just walked in," Gray said in a quieter tone. I turned around to see Lucy striding through the doors just in time to see her stripping off her raincoat and setting her green umbrella down. She had a few stray droplets of rainwater rolling down her face as she hung up her coat on the coat rack near the door. She was wearing a pair of blue shorts and a white tank top today.

"Damn," I suddenly heard Gray whisper, a rosy color appearing on his pale cheeks. "Lucy looks so pretty today." The hair on the back of my neck stood up at his words. What the hell?

"That little swank in her step," he snickered. "Wonder what she was doing today to put her in such a great mood?"

Does Gray always talk like this? Since when has he commented on Lucy's appearance before? I don't think I've ever heard him talk this way about Erza, or Mirajane, or Cana, or any of the other girls before. Why is he suddenly talking this way about Lucy?

"Such pretty blonde hair," he said, shaking a bit with a chuckle. "And that amazing body of hers-"

"Dude, are you talking to yourself?"

"Uh!" Gray suddenly looked up at me, his ears turning red with embarrassment. "Well, I mean, have you seen her lately, man?"

I know. Trust me, I've looked at her before. And if "before" means all the time, then yeah, I've definitely looked at her before. I constantly am finding myself staring at Lucy, especially when she's telling me one of her long, lengthy stories. Most of the time, I'm not even listening. I mean, I'm not listening to the words, more like I'm listening to her voice. Her voice just... entrances me. And not only do I get lost in her voice, I get lost in her face. Her plump pink lips, her silky blonde hair, her beautiful brown eyes. Everything about her just pulls me in me.

It probably also doesn't help that I'm madly in love with the girl, too.

But is her looks all Gray is going on at the moment? What about her other amazing qualities

"I'm gonna ask her out," I heard him say. And with that, I spat out my drink and started wheezing.

"Oh my god, Natsu, are you alright?!" Lucy was suddenly right there next to me, patting my back as I coughed the whiskey out of my lungs.

"Damn that hurts," I gasped. I half smiled at Lucy as tears started forming in my eyes, trying to show her I was okay. "I'll be fine."

"I'll go get you some water, Natsu," Lucy told me, petting my hair. I absent-mindedly closed my eyes and leaned into her hand just to feel it disappear from my head two seconds later. I hope I wasn't blushing.

"You can't even drink whiskey right, what are you a child?" Gray scoffed. I turned and glared at him.

"Shut the fuck up," I rasped. Gray rolled his eyes and opened up his magazine again, quickly turning to the same page he left off from.

"But yeah, definitely gonna ask her out, probably tonight."

I paled. Tonight? So soon? "Well, uh, why *cough* *cough* *hack* do you want to ask her out?"

"Heh, I think that's pretty obvious, flame brain."

He doesn't have one good reason? Just get a boner for a girl and ask her out, that's it?

Fucking moron.

"Well, what makes you wanna go steady with her then?" I asked.

Gray closed his magazine with a laugh. "Who said anything about going steady?"

My stomach dropped. My hands balled into fists. My teeth clenched down hard. He's lucky Lucy had just come back with my water or else I would have knocked him straight to Acalypha.

"Here you go, Natsu," she said with a small smile. "I hope this makes your throat feel better."

I looked up at her. Her gentle gaze calmed me down. I smiled and took the water in my hand, standing up as I took a sip. "Thanks, Luce," I said, throwing my arm around her waist. "I'm so glad we're best friends." I glanced at Gray, smirking at him as Lucy wrapped her arm around my waist and grinned.

"Me too, Natsu!" I started leading her over to the bar where Mira and Levy were and sat down with Lucy, my arm still sitting on the small of her back. I glimpsed back to see Gray silently stewing in agitation, his knuckles turning white from gripping the bench seat so hard. I smirked, sticking my tongue out at him as I slid my hand to her hip.

If stares could kill, I'd be dead by now.

I decided right then and there that day, I was not going to leave Lucy's side. Everywhere she went, I went too. And she didn't mind at all, we do that practically every day anyways, but I was like glue that day. Lucy got up to use the restroom, suddenly I felt like using the restroom. Gray corners her once she finishes up, suddenly I finish up too.

"Hey, what's going on, bro," I say, gripping his shoulder hard. He turns, his eyes piercing right through me.

"Nothing, dude," he grips my shoulder hard as well. "Just... saying hi to Lucy."

This ended up going on for a couple of days, actually. I would even stay over at her house. And the thing is, it never even phased Lucy about how much time we were spending together. But us spending so much time together was nothing out of the ordinary. It's how we always were with each other. Aside from Happy, Lucy is my best friend. She and I are just so in sync that it's baffling we weren't already dating. Her smile made me smile, her laugh made me laugh. And don't even get me started on her cooking skills.

Maybe that's why I'm so in love with her.

Lucy and I were walking from the guild one night after a particularly annoying day. Gray was relentlessly trying to get into Lucy's pants, and it was wearing me reeeeeal fucking thin. Why would any guy go through this much trouble for one night of meaningless sex?

And that was the thing that was making me so fucking crazy, it was the fact that Gray just wanted sex. Just sex, that's it, just the sex. Nothing about wanting to be with Lucy. And I know for sure that it would break Lucy's heart if a guy she really liked had sex with her and then wanted nothing more to do with her afterwards.

I couldn't even bear the thought of her in such distress. My hands turned white from balling my fists up just from thinking about it.

"Hey, Natsu, has Gray talked to you at all lately?" Lucy suddenly said. What? I just heard his name, why are you talking about him?!

I cleared my throat and tried to calm down. "I.. I don't really know. Why do you ask?"

Lucy shrugged. "I'm not sure. I guess he's just been acting really weird around me. He was staring at me the other day when it was raining, and he's been starting his sentences in such odd ways to me."

Please don't talk about him.

"I hope he's not sick," she wondered, touching her finger to her chin.

Stop talking about him.

"Gray's just so special to me, I wouldn't want something to happen to him."

Don't say his name, don't talk about him like that!

"Maybe I should head back to the guild to see him," she said just as we arrived at her front door, turning her head back the other way.

Shut up, shut up, shut up!

I slammed my hands on either side of her head on the door behind her, leaning in close to her, heat clouding my head. I stared down at her as her big, chocolate brown eyes gazed up at me.

"N... Natsu...?" she breathed.

And that was it.

I pressed my lips to hers, cradling her face in my hands as I moved my lips against her own. I could hear soft little mewls escape her throat every few seconds. My left hand searched feverishly for the doorknob, finally finding its mark after two minutes of hazy kissing. I opened the door, not once releasing her lips, and kicked the door shut behind me.

Lucy sat next to me, cuddled into my side with her hand up to her mouth as I finished telling her my story.

"So you were..." she said quietly, "... jealous?"

My lips pressed together firmly as I thought about it for a moment.

"Yeah," I admitted after a while. "I was super duper jealous." I wasn't ashamed to admit it. Because I was, I was extremely jealous. I didn't want Lucy taken away from me. So if I had to stick to her side like glue, then so be it.

* * *

 

"Well," she started, laying her head on my shoulder, "I'm glad you were jealous." I looked down at her and smiled.

"Really?"

"Of course!" she exclaimed. "I wouldn't have gotten the best husband in the world if you hadn't been jealous of Gray! We wouldn't be expecting parents if you had just let him have his way."

"That's very true," I chuckled, leaning down and pecking her on the lips. "Would you have said yes if he had actually ask you, though?"

She didn't even need to think about it, she replied almost before I finished the sentence. "No. I just don't see Gray that way."

"Yeah?" I asked quietly. She nodded twice.

"But I see you that way..."

I grinned. "I sure hope so," I laughed. "I love you so much, Lucy Dragneel."

Lucy sighed contently. "I love it when you call me that."

"Oh really?" I asked quietly, shifting in my seat and biting my bottom lip. "You like that, Mrs. Dragneel?" I whispered in her ear.

"Stop, Natsu," she wimpered, rubbing her hand on the back of my neck. I smiled, placing my hands on her cheeks and kissing her deeply. As we drifted into a content atmosphere of kissing and sighing, I silently thanked Gray for being such a skank.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This is also the last chapter for now! I promise I'll finish it someday, like I said, haven't done much with Fairy Tail in a very long time!


End file.
